The Truth of the Spiral Arms
by nat13cat
Summary: For hundreds of years the outter rim was believed to be the edge of possible intelligent life. No one bothered to look on the arms of the spiral galaxy. So what is there? It will take a malfunction in hyperspace to discover the truth of the spiral arms.
1. First Contact

"This is Commander Rex of the five-oh-first, General Skywalker report, over," The com-linked sounded in a tiny voice. The only sound was static. After a few moments of this the voice spoke again.

"Please respond, over." more crackling for an even longer period of time. This time a higher pitched voice came over the com link.

"General Skywalker, this is Padawan Ahsoka Tano. Please respond, over," it was a formal voice, only used for communicating over the air. The hand gloved in brown did not move. It hung limply. It was a pitiful sight.

"Skywalker, what are your coordinates, over?" A light flickered with the pitch of the voice. It was the deeper male again. Urgency punctuated the words. This was the longest stretch of static yet. Then a small panicked voice came back on.

"Sky guy, where are you?" the fingers twitched. A moan echoed through the clearing. Without pressing the button he cannot communicate with the ones trying to save him. "Please," the girl whispers.

The man in the ship gains consciousness. Slowly, desperately he claws his way through the black cotton. The suffocating place right before death that all humans feared most. His blue eyes match the sky they stare into for a moment, clouded and confused. His whole body is like one big wound. Everything feels broken. His neck definitely is. He is lucky that it didn't sever many nerves.

"Master," a girl sobs on his com link. Thank the force it is on his mechanical arm, which he can still move. Hopefully. It whirrs and clicks, then begins to travel. It still functions. He brings his wrist to his forehead and presses down to activate the com. It seems to be one of the few areas that wasn't severely injured. It still hurt.

"Ahsoka," he manages to croak. It hurt to speak.

"Master? Master, are you all right, over?" she asks quickly her tone switching from happiness to anxiousness in a heartbeat. He is about to respond that he is fine when something twinges in his chest and he cries out involuntarily. His breath comes in quick gasps for a few moments. "You are not all right," she says somberly. "What are your coordinates, over?" Anakin manages to answer without screaming in pain, which would undoubtedly hurt.

"I don't know," he takes a shaky breath and continues. "R-Two has my original coordinates," he takes a second to breathe again. Every time air enters his lungs his ribs screech in protest. He can't feel his right leg. He doesn't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing. "Went off course, about half way through," he knew that without the force he would be dead. It was no easy task to speak. Especially the task of not crying out.

"We'll find you master, we will," she says it like she is trying to reassure herself more than him.

"Skywalker out." He pulls the com link away from his forehead and whimpers. Such a pathetic sound to come from the hero of the republic, but he was only human. He closed his eyes and let his head fall back. He was going to die. That was for certain. It was time for him to except death.

"Oh my totally screwed up universe," said a female voice from what seemed like only a few feet away. He wanted to snap at the interrupter. He was trying to come to terms with his death! To not seeing Padmae again, or Ahsoka, or Rex, or Obi-wan…

He opened his sky colored eyes, bright with pain. Padmae stood before him with a flashlight gripped in her hand illuminating her in a dull yellow glow. He blinked and wished he could rub his eyes. That made no sense. How could she be here? Unless he was dead. Anakin didn't feel dead. The words escaped his lips before he could stop them.

"Padmae…" The girl was staring at him.

"I'm not Padmae," she said. "I'm Josephine." The more he looked at her the more he realized it was true. They could have been sisters. Her eyes were blacker than Padmae's and she was a little taller. She was softer than Padmae, with a rounder face and a little more weight. Then she walked towards him and he realized it was muscle. Her eyes were wide with fear and confusion. "And you're Anakin Skywalker," he would have blanched if he could move his head. How did this girl know who he was if before he had crashed he had been outside his fighter's ability to locate and name?

"How do you…?" he faded of before he started whimpering again. Then she was close enough to see his wounds and she seemed to lose all the blood in her pale face. Then she turned to the side and vomited. She turned away from him so he wouldn't get sick himself. That was very considerate of her, sense he disgusted her so. She straightened and wiped her lips.

"Sorry," she said quietly.

"That bad?" he asked with a little bit of fear. She was about to say no, then decided to say nothing. The dark haired girl pulled out this small blue rectangular object with a tiny screen and a lot of buttons. She pressed some of them and then held it to her ear.

"36 Stonetop Road, Feildsridge CT. Area code 77806." She didn't say anything for a moment. "There is a man here and he is gravely injured. He is entombed," she paused again. "About twenty two," another pause, "Yes he is bleeding and he is semiconscious," there seemed to be a lot of pausing which made no sense. He could hear no other voice. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you. Yes I'll stay on the phone but don't expect me to talk. Send the fire department," and she opened the object to reveal a bigger screen and another set of buttons which were smaller and even more confusing. She fiddled with it for a moment. Now he heard a voice.

"Okay miss, just don't hang up," she placed the small device on the ground and came back to him.

"What is that?" he manages to mumble. Her face is still bone white.

"A cell phone," she says warily.

He has no idea what that is. He accidentally breathes the wrong way and shouts. The pain is searing. Her hands are fluttering over him, trying to find something to fix. He sees that her teeth are chattering and her fingers are shaking. It must be freezing. Hunh, he couldn't even tell. The wind rattled the black pines that surrounded him on all visible sides. A siren grew louder in the distance. The moon hung sadly in the star splattered sky. He tried to remain conscious. It was a battle he was losing.

The girl settled for un-wrapping a scrunched up cloth from her pocket and filling it with snow. Then she held it and it melted into water slowly, soaking the cloth. She wiped his forehead and his cheeks with it. It came away soot and rose. More of the second.

The sirens were closer. Really close.

"I need to bring the paramedics here, they won't be able to see you from the driveway," she turned back to him as she ran toward the glowing red lights. "Don't die while I'm gone okay?" and she sprinted off in a navy blue robe with white polka-dots and these fluffy brown boots. The boots came up to her ankles and her robe half way down her thigh. There was a wide expanse of skin in between. He wished she was Padmae. It would have been a nice way to leave the world.

"He's over here, come on!" the words echoed faintly in his head. There was the dull roar of a power saw and he heard someone moan. What a weakling. He didn't even consider it strange that he seemed to be living in a world colored only in shades of blue and flickering lights. Shadows warped and twisted in his concussed mind. Another echo filtered into his conscious.

"His neck is broken! Brace him!" Then he felt himself being gently extracted from his fighter. He had loved that ship. He mentally said good bye as he was strapped to a stretcher. Padmae looked down at him with worry on her face. He wanted to reach his fingers up and stroke her face, tell her he was fine and everything would be all right. That's what he always told her. At least she wasn't crying. He hated it when she cried. There was that moaning again. He wanted to tell who ever was doing it to stop. It was hurting his chest. Then there was a mask on his face and he drifted into sweet oblivion.


	2. Doctor Team Alpha Squad

_I'm sorry this chapter is a little slow but it sets a basis for the plot and i felt it was nessecary to set a little bit of the mood. if you just looked a josephine (her nickname Ine pronounced EENE will be introduced next chapter)she would seem calm cool collected and even bored. but really she is stressed and confused and i wanted to show you that instead of just telling you in one of these bluby things. anyway i don't own starwars or the clone wars or anakin or earth though it would be nice if i did_

* * *

"Get in the ambulance miss," said the paramedic kindly. The whole team had gone into utter shock at the sight of Anakin Skywalker. He was a Jedi. He existed in six movies and a cartoon series. Not in real life. Not real enough to crash into the mountain that was her back yard and skid through the foreclosed properties of many of her neighbors. Not real enough for the dark eyed girl to wake up an hour before she had to go to school because a sonic boom was created when it entered the atmosphere. Not real enough for her to throw on her Ugg boot and sprint through the falling snow, telling her blurry eyed parents to go back to sleep. They nodded and put their ear plugs back in. She was surprised they had even bothered to ask. Not real enough to have made her retch at the sight of his injuries. She hadn't eaten a substantial meal since… dinner yesterday. It was not enough food to throw it up. Not real enough for her to have a bloody paper-towel in her pocket covered in his blood. Not real enough for him to be lying broken next to her on a gurney surrounded by paramedics taking his vital signs and staring at his lifeless body. Well, his heart was beating weakly. So he was alive.

"How is he real?" one man said in the silent car. He just touched the light saber clipped at his hip, and then jerked his hand away like it burned.

"I have no idea," said another with wide blue eyes. She sent a quick text to her parents telling them she went to the hospital. They wouldn't really care. She could say she went to the moon and they really wouldn't care. Money did things to people. The siren blared and they flew down the highway at close to one hundred miles per hour. This early there was no one awake let alone driving around. So faster than she thought possible the sky scraper hospital came into view, solar panels turned away, the air plane warning light blinking slowly red. Anakin moaned again and the medics pressed something on the IV drip. He moved no more.

"We need to keep him from moving and damaging himself more," the man on the walky talky was yelling at whoever was on the other end.

"I don't care that you think I'm crazy! I am not drunk and you know it! Prepare for an emergency surgery! There is a man here who is going to die because of your stupidity!" the girl walked to the front of the truck. The driver was frowning in concentration as he took the exit ramp.

"Let me speak with the kind person," the man looked at the girl in her ridiculous outfit and sighed, handing her the device.

"Good luck kid," he said. He was wondering why he was giving a minor access to closed medical airways.

"Please prep an emergency surgery room for General Skywalker," she said calmly and softly into the speaker.

"YOU'RE INSANE!" shouted some nurse on the other end through the crackling. She repeated her instructions again, this time with more force. She closed her eyes and concentrated.

"I will prep an emergency surgery room for General Skywalker," said the woman on the other end of the yellow device. The man stared at her for a moment and the girl smiled.

"What's your name?" he asked and clipped his walky talky to his belt.

"Josephine Dethkilr," he looked horrified by her last name. "It's German," she had made that excuse thousands of times.

"Okay miss," and she walked back to the rest of the ambulance. She un-clipped his light saber, not trusting the hospital not to lose it. She would need it if she was going to get this whole ordeal paid for. She had no doubts that Anakin would survive. No body died in hospitals anymore right? So the next crisis was to pay for it. Then when Anakin could function they would discuss getting him off this planet. For now, all he needed to worry about was staying alive. All she needed to worry about was holding on to this heavy weapon. She resisted the urge to test it. They pulled into the off load station and the sirens died. Then they threw the locks off the gurney and went into full emergency mode. They loaded him off the truck and into the bustle of the ER. People filled the lobby, a man with a stab wound, a kid with a fish hook in his mouth. These were the ones without health insurance. Most of them were not white. Then behind the curtain it was filled with white people. Children with leg braces, eyes red from crying and well-dressed parents. Old white men on their last legs. One Indian couple dressed in business suits with what looked like an unconscious colleague. Anakin by passed all that. He was thrown directly into surgery. I mean this was Anakin Skywalker for Pete's sake. That and Josephine always gets what she wants. People stared at her with her strange ensemble and the light saber. It was still night so there were less stares than there would be in a few hours. Once Anakin had been forwarded into surgery Josephine pulled over a nurse.

"What room will Anakin be put in after he comes out of surgery?" she asked sweetly.

"I don't know that is not my job…" the woman trails off with a confused face. This girl is staring straight into the weaker minded woman's eyes.

"Please check the computer."

"I will check the computer."

"Thank you," the nurse checked the system. It was room 789, which was a pretty funny number. Not really. Josephine didn't laugh.

"I want his clothes brought straight to me from surgery. Not washed, not even brushed. Even the ones they have to cut off. The gloves, the boots, everything,"

"The clothes will be brought to you unchanged after surgery," the nurse nodded, dazed look in her eyes as she typed something into the computer. Josephine nodded and proceeded up the empty elevator.

Ding

Ding

Ding

Ding

Ding

Ding

Ping

The doors opened revealing a long white hall. It was empty. All the doors were shut tightly. Voices could be heard behind one of them but most of the others were silent. Dead silent. Skywalker's home away from home came into view. The door was closed just like the others. The inside was white. There was a reproduction of Monet's water lilies on one wall. There was a single hospital bed with equipment surrounding it like hovering vultures coming in for the kill. There was one window and one small table. There was a chair for visitors. It was an ICU.

Josephine realized her mind was not working at full capacity. That was why her observations were so plain, her sentences so short. She was in a state of mild shock. She had gotten four hours of sleep and found a man a minute from death in a ship from outer space. A man who should not exist. He was in movies as Darth Vader. Then he was in another set of movies as the hero. A set of movies where she had seen clips, but never the entire thing. Now he was in a cartoon series, that, she must admit to herself, she loved. Even if she was a high school student and female. She had dreamed of situations like this. They were just dreams. Once, she had actually imagined Anakin calling her Padmae. That's why she was so stunned when it actually happened. George Lucas had an elephant load of explaining to do. It was going to take some effort to get to him. For now though, all she wanted to do was curl up. So she crawled into the chair and did just that. Then she started crying, cell gripped in her hands lightsaber on her lap. Tears dripped on the scratched NV3. Her body shook but she didn't make a sound. She had learned to cry silently over the years. Her parents wouldn't care. Her watch began beeping the slow automated ticks forcing unsuspecting children out of sleep. It was time for her to get ready for school. She thought about calling in sick, but they would see where she was on the news in a few hours. She stood and tried to look as commanding as possible in her pajamas. A laminated list of doctors and phone numbers inside the hospital was under the empty white vase that smelled like a dead garden. More death. Anyway, she found the number for the manager's office. He wasn't going to be in until nine like most people with his job. So she was going to have to wait around for four hours before she could call a press conference. Through the manager she would get the mayor, through the mayor the governor, and then finally George Lucas. Anakin was still in surgery and probably would be for most of the day. What was she supposed to do then? There was a polite knock on the door.

"Perfect timing," she mumbled under her breath. "Come in!" she said much louder. The nob turned revealing a nurse or PA or whatever they called them now.

"General Skywalker's clothes miss," she said and placed them gingerly in the corner. She was wearing long disposable gloves and an apron. "I wouldn't touch them if I were you. Oh, I have also been told to inform you that the doctor took the liberty of taking a blood sample and a clothing sample. He is likely to survive at this point though we make no promises. He will probably be out of surgery around noon."

"Would it be possible for you to bring me a net book? Thank you for the information. All updates are appreciated," she said softly. Her eyes were probably red. The woman looked at her with little pity. She had been there since midnight and didn't want to deal with some whiney teenager who made her carry disgusting clothes from the bottom floor.

"I will bring you a netbook." The hazel eyes left without another word.

Josephine went back to being anxious and bored. The lightsaber called to her from her hands, but she didn't activate it. It wasn't a good idea in this small room. She was also afraid that the men in black might follow its signal or something. That would totally suck, having this all taken away from her by the government.

"ANSWER YOUR PHONE! ANSWER YOUR PHONE!" her phone was ringing. That tone still scared her. She read the caller ID. Speaking of sucking…

"Hey mom," she sighed and prepared for the attack she would have to shut down. They only cared when bad things were happening.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU ARE AT THE HOSPITAL? WHY IS NASA IN OUR BACK YARD? WHY IS THE DAMN FOREST ON FIRE?" she screamed into the phone. Before she could continue ranting Josephine began speaking.

"Do not worry mother," she said softly and stared at the window and the sun dragging itself above the horizon for another grueling day's work.

"Why wouldn't I worry?" she trailed off confused.

"Do not worry mom," Josephine said again, with more force.

"I will not worry," she repeats back as most people do when Josephine gives them an order.

"Why don't you relax today? Just make sure Helen gets on the bus okay?" She says sadly and turns away from the gathering clouds. For once she wished someone would argue with her, not just do what she said. She used to wonder how she did it. Now it was just a part of her everyday life.

"I will relax today. I will make sure Helen gets the bus," her voice floats dreamily over the phone.

"Good bye mom. I love you," she said resisting tears.

"Bye hun," and she hung up the phone. Now she would be standing there rubbing her head wondering what had just happened. Then she would shrug and do what Josephine had told her to. She curled into a ball on the chair again and set her watch to eleven.

The buzzing brought her to her senses. For a moment she panicked. Then she felt the lightsaber in her grip and the whole night came rushing back to her. A net book was on the empty bed. She snatched it, cursing its tiny keys as she flew through log in procedures. The internet was open in a millisecond and she was snaking her way to Lucas film entertainment's official website. The government could be by passed. She could just get to him through the company. Hopefully they would fall under her persuasion like most people do. She found a phone number written microscopically in the corner of one screen. She snapped her cell phone shut and punched the numbers into contacts. It was too early to call in California. The manager should be in by now. She punched in the numbers offered to her by the sheet into the ugly off white phone on the table. Then she pressed the red glowing button and held the phone to her ear.

"Hello?" the man said politely doing a good job of hiding his irritation.

"This is Josephine Dethkilr. I am the girl who came through with Anakin Skywalker. We have some matters we need to discuss," she paused and allowed him to respond.

"Yes, we do," his voice was steel. "See, if he is real,"

"Which he is,"

"If miss, if, the media hype is going to start in about a half an hour. We will be swarmed,"

"Yes, that is part of the point,"

"Well it is not so good for the patients of our hospital,"

"View it as an advertising campaign sir. Think of all the publicity your fine hospital will get. If you don't want news helicopters at your front door, call a press conference this afternoon. You obviously have a conference room somewhere,"

"Yes, we do have one."

"Call a press conference at three o'clock."

"I will call a press conference at three o'clock,"

"Good. Thank you sir. Have a good day," and she hung up the phone.

"That was productive," she mumbled and curled back up in the chair. Anakin would be arriving in a few minutes, she would call Lucas film around one and then she would deal with the press. Actually, somewhere in there she would have to eat something. Her stomach clenched. A lot of something. Pacing seemed like a very good idea right now.

The door opened to reveal a team of people in scrubs and white. One held the door as another wheeled in what looked like an operating table or some tricked out gurney. Josephine danced to the corner of the room to get out of the way. Another team trailed behind. The door opener and the pushed gently shifted Anakin from the rolling thing to the bed from hospital hell. They backed off and doctor team alpha squad came in after. They hooked up his full casted leg to something in the ceiling and snapped him out of one IV into another. They took the mask off his face simultaneously. They plugged him into a few more wires then then most of the alpha squad left without a word. That left two doctors a male and a female about the same height with dark hair and gray eyes. They could be brother and sister. It was a little disturbing.

"He will live. The damage to his organs was immense, and he had fifty broken bones. Though to our astonishment, his organs and bones were healing themselves at an impossibly rapid rate," the man's eyes were glowing with excitement at this discovery though his face remained impassive. "We actually had to re-break multiple bones that healed incorrectly. This is a very exciting medical discovery!" he rubbed his hands together. The woman began talking.

"Ignore my brother. I am actually a neuro-robotics specialist, this is my lab coat. See, when we were giving him X-rays before the planned MRI we discovered that this man has a robotic arm, just like the one in the movie I might add. Anyway that forced us to give him a CAT scan instead. We discovered that this robotic arm is connected to his brain and functions like a normal arm would except it is stronger. Another amazing feature is that is not cut off at the joint but just above the elbow. This is a miracle opportunity in neuro-robotics-" her brother cut her off.

"She doesn't care about that!" he hissed. "She is here for his health," he turned back to her and straightened his scrubs. "Even at his accelerated healing rate he won't feasibly have extensive motion until the end of the week. He shouldn't begin walking until Sunday. If he is who he seems to be, then he shouldn't use that," he gestured to the lightsaber clutched in her fingers, "until Tuesday of next week." His sister stood sulkily by as he continued to speak. "He will be gaining consciousness in a few minutes. He was very heavily drugged because he seems to resist amnesiac drugs. He most likely will be… confused for an hour or two. Maybe three-" his sister stepped on his foot. He turned to her and she made some slicing motions. He cleared his throat. "Anyway, normally we would ask you to leave but since this is a new planet entirely we think it would be better if he saw a face he recognized when he awoke. He did see you before he fell unconscious correct?" she nods and the talkative man continues. She was a little scared. These two seemed pretty child like to be dealing with injuries of such an immense proportion. Josephine hadn't even taken a good look at Anakin since he entered the room. She would do that when these two left. "Well don't touch him and if things go wrong press the red button on his IV." Then they left. It was so abrupt. No goodbye or good luck. Not even a nod.

It didn't seem that important when she turned back to Anakin. She bit her lip and forced the tears down that tried to burst the dam she had built there.

Beep

Beep

Beep

Beep

Anakin's heart beat at what seemed like a normal pace. His eye lids flickered and his lips twisted into a scowl. Those were one of the few things that wasn't bandaged or wrapped in a cast. There was an anti-scar bandage on his forehead. That cut must have supplied all the blood. His face was clean of soot now, and it was just a beautiful as it always had been. He was just as angular as he had been animated to an almost in human extent. His undamaged arm, the robotic one, was muscled and had not an ounce of fat. The aqua hospital scrub looked ridiculous on him even with all the casts. There was one on his flesh arm. One of his legs was encased with plaster while the other wore a boot. There were bandages wrapped around his ribs and a special brace over the top of them. The saddest thing of all was the neck brace. The plush white tube made him appear broken. His eyes fluttered again. Then they snapped. He tried to sit up, but the restrains she didn't notice before held him back. That and when he tried his face contorted in pain. The azure was still clouded when they flickered to her face. Then he relaxed. She knew what was coming. The doctor's words came back to her.

"…He will be… confused…" Anakin blinked one and then said the single word in his rich voice.

"Padmae…" his voice is a deep and smooth as it is in the cartoon. Exactly the same, as if the man who voiced him laid on the bed. Josephine shakes her head.

"I'm not Padmae," his eyes flickered from her own.

"Why are you here? We are under attack. You could be killed," he said the words with little feeling. It was as if he was in two places at once. Then his eyes come into focus.

"I could never live with myself if you were killed," Josephine winces. Her almost black eyes flicker to her phone. The time at the bottom of the blue screen is slowly growing larger and the icon that is a cross between a Texas cowboy hat and a corn cob is pulsating gently. "It might drive me to the dark," the blue goes unfocused again.

"I'm not Padmae,"

"I'll call a shuttle and get you shipped out. Then I won't have to worry anymore my love,"

"I am not your love,"

"Please don't fight me on this. It is for the best. Naboo needs you, the senate needs you. What about that bill you are about to pass?"

"Please stop," his eyes flicker into this world again.

"I will never stop fighting. Not until this body can't breathe and my heart doesn't pump. Until they have to replace absolutely everything with circuits and metal, I will fight,"

"What will you fight for?" Josephine asks the window with the dark gray sky. It was going to rain soon. Playing the game was easier than fighting it. Anakin doesn't really reply.

"This was has been going on for too long. It takes us away from our real jobs, and more importantly from each other. I don't see you anymore," some of the pain must have come back. His face contorts and he bites back a shout. The sea is bright with it. A fraction of awareness is back in his features. "What… what happened?" he mumbles and blinks his eyes blearily.

"You were gravely injured when your fighter crashed. He tries to nod and lets out a shout. His eyes go fuzzy again.

"Hurry Padmae, the ship is leaving. You need to evacuate," he intones with a little more feeling. His robotic arm strains against the bonds provided for it. Josephine unsnaps the plastic tab. His fingers take her own. His are cold.

"I am not your love Anakin," she says at a whisper. Why she bothers she doesn't know.

"Don't play your political games with me. You know I don't like that. Just kiss me and be off to safety," he finishes gently.

"I am not who you think I am,"

"Kiss me Padmae,"

"Anakin…"

"What is wrong? There is another man isn't there-"

"No, there isn't!"

"Why don't you do it then?" his voice rises and his heart begins to beat faster. The doctors will come in if things change. Josephine doesn't want him seen like this.

"I am not your wife!" she practically sobs. His face looks mildly angry.

"I love you," he says like he is ruined.

"Damn you!" she shouts. "Damn you," mush softer. Then she leans over and kisses him. It was to shut him up more than anything. She really did want to kiss him of course, who wouldn't? It just wasn't right. He was married and not even from her planet. That and the fact she was almost eight years younger. No matter how many time people thought you were older it didn't change your age.

What surprised her was Anakin's cool hand on the back of her neck, pushing her closer in the awkward position she was in. His warm tongue was at her lips and it begged for access to her mouth which she would not allow. She pulled away, tears dripping down her face.

She was weak.


	3. A Little Late Don't You Think?

"Anakin is where?" Obi-wan says into his com link disbelievingly. Rex's voice comes back through the small device.

"The spiral arms sir,"

"Well, at least he is still alive." Obi-wan says with obvious relief. The thought of Anakin being dead had been torturing him for the past hours.

"That is always a plus with General Skywalker Sir," he replies and Obi-wan can't help laugh.

"You have that correct Rex. I will notify the Jedi council of this and we shall discuss how we shall get Anakin out of his predicament,"

"Yes General. And before you go sir?" Obi-wan knew what that tone of voice meant. Cody used it when he was trying to put a good spin on new like 'We lost and entire cruiser, but it destroyed all the boarding droids inside when it broke apart in space!' or 'All but Anakin's fleet made it through the blockade!' which meant exactly no one had made it through the blockade.

"Yes Captain Rex?" he asked warily.

"Well, ah, Commander Tano has something to tell you," General Kenobi hears a muffled argument between Rex and Ahsoka.

"You said you were going to do it!"

"I told him the good news kid! You can protect yourself with a lightsaber when he attacks you! All I got is my blaster, which puts a nice hole in clanka's but not in Jedi!"

"Arg! I told you not to call me kid!" This goes on for about five seconds before there are sounds of wrestling and then Ahsoka gets on the line with a hiss of air.

"Uh, Hey Master Kenobi."

"Hello Ahsoka," he says patiently, holding back a laugh. Why wouldn't he be happy Anakin's alive!

"Well, see, about Anakin…" Obi-wan's good mood vanishes in a gust of cold wind.

"What Ahsoka?" there is no play in his tone now.

"See, he is badly injured. We don't know how long he's going to last out there."

"Oh my. Well that changes our plans considerably. I will contact the Jedi Council at once. Organize the troops Ahsoka. We are going to have to go extract Anakin from whatever situation he has gotten himself into."

"Ahsoka Out." Obi-wan pressed his com-link to end the transmission. He stared at it for a moment, face murderous. Then he slammed his fist sideways into the wall.

His skin came away without a scratch.

* * *

"Again," Anakin says. "Before we are separated for force knows how long in this bloody war." Josephine leans down and kisses him again. This time she lets him do whatever he wants with his tongue. It's when he bites her lip so tenderly that she can't take the lying anymore. She roughly pulls herself away and doesn't look at him as he begs for more form another human. Kisses she will pretend to give no longer. She picks up her cell and presses the contact button. There is a dialing sound as she holds it up to her ear. After two rings a voice picks up. It's relatively pleasant and female. It shouldn't be too much of a challenge even at this distance.

"Lucasfilm enterprises. This is Tawni speaking. How may I help you?" there was no point for pleasantries.

"Get me someone who can get George Lucas."

"Wh-what?" she stammered.

"Don't make me repeat myself!" she snapped. She was aggravated and in no mood to pretend she didn't control people. "Get. Me. George. Lucas. I don't care how you do it or who you have to lie to. Just get him on this phone!"

"I will get George Lucas on the phone," she says in the monotone people usually use when responding to her. Then Tawni ends her statement with a chipper "Please hold." Josephine stands up and taps her foot, looking at her watch as she goes through multiple dial tones and three different voices telling her to hold. Finally after about twenty minutes she gets through. Well, almost through.

"This is George Lucas's personal secretary. Why are you calling?" This was no push over receptionist. Time to actually work.

"I am calling because I have one of his characters physically lying next to me in a hospital bed drugged up and ranting because he crash landed onto Earth. I want an explanation and a check to pay for all his surgeries. Please put George on the phone,"

"Miss…" he trailed off.

"Put him on the phone sir. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. I really prefer the easy way. Put George on the phone," there was no hard way actually. Just Josephine's way. As she was talking she opened her net book and activated her Skype account. She was going to talk to this man face to face.

"I will put George on the phone,"

"Hello?" She recognized George Lucas's voice from the T.V. It was defiantly him.

"Hello George. Please activate you Skype account and search josephinedetkilr. No spaces, no captials. Josephine spelled j-o-s-e-p-h-i-n-e and Dethkilr spelled d-e-t-h-k-i-l-r. Activate a chat please,"

"I will activate a chat with Josephine Dethkilr."

"Very good sir. I see your screen name." She clicked it and Okayed the chat. When a perplexed George Lucas 's face appeared she hung up the phone.

"See Mr. Lucas the reason I went through all the trouble to contact you is that I am in a little bit of a predicament. See one of your characters, more specifically Anakin Skywalker, crash landed in my backyard. Now I am at the hospital with him, waiting for him to recover from his injuries." George Lucas laughed.

"Why, I wonder how you go through all the people to get to me dear, but that is preposterous. My characters are not real. They only exist in the theater and in peoples' imagination," I noticed the sheen of sweat on his forehead and how quickly he denied it. He was hideing something.

"I agree with you Mr. Lucas. That is where they should exist. Except Anakin is lying half dead behind me." I picked up the net book and turned the camera back on Anakin lying broken in the bed. His eyes were open and staring at the ceiling. He wasn't talking any more, just taking labors breaths. I put myself back in front of the computer. George Lucas laughed again, but this time it was higher pitched. He tugged at the corner of his eyebrow in a sign of stress. The sweat was more prominent on his face now. He wiped his hands on his pants.

"That is some look alike dear. I am very impressed. I am glad you got a hold of me now. Yet it is still not real," he coughed. Josephine sighed and held up her final card. The light saber. She activated the glowing blue sword and it entered the room with a hiss. It illuminated her face strangely, making her look like the Jedi, not the man behind her.

"Do you believe me now George?" She picked up the vase with no flowers in it and sliced it in half easily. The two pieces clattered to the floor in a porcelain clatter. "How about now?" his face had gone totally white. He wasn't joking or laughing anymore.

"Videos can be faked,"

"Ahh, but this is not a video is it? This is live and you know it George. You have explaining to do," He looked away from the screen.

"Leave us Karl," a tiny voice echo's through the speakers.

"Don't tell me you're heeding that insufferable-"

"I asked you to leave," a door closes. Mr. Lucas gets up and closes the blinds behind him. Now the room is thrown into a dramatic twilight, much different from the harsh florescent light in the hospital. Anakin groans behind her. The pain killers must be wearing off. Hopefully he won't start screaming or something awful like that. Josephine leaves that to worry about later. Her full attention is on George Lucas.

"Tell me everything George."

"I will tell you everything. I was sitting in my office on day an extremely long time ago when the radio made odd static noises. Then we began picking up the noises of battle and a voice shouting orders at others with the same voice. We didn't hear that exact clip for a long time. But after that came a stream of call communications, recorded conversations. All of it. We looked at the channel and we had never seen it before. We tried to find the radio station in America that was broadcasting it but found none. We went overseas because some of it was in a different language but we still found nothing. My colleagues and I, we began writing them down. That first year turned into the fourth, fifth, and sixth movie. They came in backwards. It started at the beginning of sixth, then the beginning of five, then the beginning of four, you get the idea. We determined it was because there technology had improved over time, so we got the fastest, newest signals first and the oldest, slowest signals last."

"So the movies are only divided the way they are because that is when the technology waws upgraded throughout the galaxy?"

"Yes. It was a story of some war, some fight for freedom, in the center of the galaxy. We didn't move that radio for three years, never turned it off or pressed a single button. Something was recording it the whole time."

"You were smart, not telling the world about aliens. You made more money off those movies than you would have if you discovered multiple alien races,"

"Don't make me the bad guy here. The story needed to be told in a way that wasn't overshadowed by the discovery!"

"Bullshit and you know it," Josephine spat. Lucas sighed.

"Maybe."

"That still doesn't explain why Anakin is here all young and spry if he was like this forty years ago,"

"I know," George said and ran his fingers through his hair. "I can't explain it, though we just recently began getting communications from the clone wars which is strange because it happened between two and three. "

"Maybe membrane theory is real after all," Josephine muttered under her breath. She had always been an atheist, but told others she was agnostic because she lived in a relatively religious area. She had always followed the scientific theories of the universe.

"What?" Lucas said.

"Membrane theory. That every possible thing is happening at every possible moment in different universes that are all connected in the time dimension. The ones closest to our own universe would be right up against our walls. Maybe there was a tear and you received radio signals through it. The exact same thing is happening in our universe, except forty years later,"

"Yeah, sure," he scoffs. Josephine rolls her eyes but gets down to the real reason she contacted him.

"Well, Anakin is in the hospital and his medical care needs to be paid for. You are going to do that," Josephine looked directly into his eyes, locking her black ones on his own. If this didn't work she would just threaten him. Threats would normally seem ridiculous coming from a fifteen-ish year old girl. She had learned people didn't find them so ridiculous from her.

"B-"

"You will contact the manager of Burydan Hospital in CT and confirm that you wish to pay for all of Anakin Skywalker's expenses. Tell him if he says there is no Anakin that you are paying for the patient in room 789."

"I will contact the manager of Burydan Hospital in CT and confirm that I wish to pay for all of Anakin Skywalker's expenses. I will tell him if he says there is no Anakin that I am paying for the patient in room 789."

"I'm glad we had this talk," and she hung up.

Anakin moaned from behind her and tried to sit up again.

"What now?" she hissed under her breath and turned to him. Her expression immediately softened when she looked down on the beautiful Jedi. Gently she pushed him back towards the bed.

"Relax general. You must maintain your rest," she had heard Rex say that in one episode when Anakin had been grievously injured.

"No, Josephine, I can't relax. I need to fight," he cried out at the last word. She was shaking her head but he continued.

"Something dark in the force is coming. I can sense them. They were coming when the ship crashed. We escaped then, but we won't escape now," he let out a brutal cough and then a slight whimper but continued all the same. "Hand me my lightsaber and undo the restraints. They're at the doo-"

There was a knock and some muffled voices and thumps.

Then a crash as the door was kicked open.

Three sleek guns entered the room followed by three men in black suits and sun glasses.

The Men in Black had arrived.

A little late don't you think?

* * *

_Hey, this chapter finally came out. It took forever for me to figure out how to write it without boring you to tears or killing myself with science mumbo jumbo! A little action for Josephine next chapter! She is bad ass after all, we just haven't seen a lot of that yet. Hopefully I made the merge between earth existing in the same galaxy as star wars as believable as possible. I think it is possible and true! :D (if you REVIEW, your name will be mentioned next chapter)_

_Comments? Questions? Critiques?_

_Type me a review!_


	4. Discovery: Earth

He needed to come to terms with the thought that the man he viewed as his son could have perished from the injuries he obviously possessed. Obi-wan suddenly felt the need to punch something or going flying off in his fighter. But he was supposed to be the one who was cool and collected. So he continued to stand at attention in the center of the clones, hands clasped firmly behind his back. He continued to issue orders as they flew through hyper-space to the planet Anakin's signal had been traced to.

He waited until he stood alone.

She glanced through the three men who entered the room to the two similar people knocked out on the floor. The squabbling siblings. There were these metal leech like things sticking out of their foreheads.

She was a little more focused on the guns pointed at her forehead.

"Give us the lightsaber, and we won't have to kill you," said the one in the middle. Other than that, they all looked exactly the same. Even their height and the shade of their skin. She slowly backed up to the window. They followed her with their guns. She unlocked the restraints on Anakin's bed with a flick of her hand and drew the lightsaber with the other. It resonated in her hand vibrating and humming in the hospital room.

"You don't want this," She says putting all the command in her voice. They just laughed at Josephine.

"We know your tricks." Said the far left

"We know how easily it really is to kill you." Said the center

"How easy it is to cover up." said the far right.

"Watch," said the middle with a small smile, the first show of emotion the entire occupation. He raised his gun.

The world snapped into slow motion. His finger moved impossibly slow as he pulled back on the trigger. She knew the bullet would imbed itself right in her skull if I didn't move. She stared death right in the face.

Then the world was going too fast. There was a thwunk as a bullet imbedded itself above her head. Anakin was gesturing with his hand, face twisted with concentration. The man who's gun had been pointed at me was choking. His face was turning blue and he clawed at an invisible hand. She wanted to scream at Anakin to stop, that the man was going to die.

She just stood there and gazed at him with eyes of steel. He was going to kill her, so he could die.

"You will die. All of you. Leave and never come back." She swished the lightsaber in front of her.

"Or I might kill you personally." The man dropped to the floor and gasped, the air rasping into his lungs like a paper bag. After all that his sunglasses had still had not fallen off. His two conspirators looked at her long and hard. Then the scooped up their leader and fled, taking their leeches with them in a swirl of back fabric. Anakin collapsed back onto the bed, his face a bloodless white. His breathing sounded like the man he had almost killed. His heart was spiking then stopping, spiking and stopping.

"Damn, damn, damn," She was over there in a millisecond. It was the crash all over again. Josephine could do nothing to save the man who was probably dying under her hands. Anakin was dying because he had to save _her_. She didn't really deserve to be saved. Not after all those horrible things she had done and gotten away with.

Especially one.

She forced the throat constricting thought out of her head and rushed over to the doctors. They had to be able to do something. The brother, the actually doctor, was stirring. He groaned and sat up, gripping his head.

"Sir, sir come quickly. Something is wrong with Anakin," she said and dragged him to his feet. He looked dazed for a moment then got this serious look and pushed past her roughly. At one point she would have been mad at him for that and made him apologize. Not now. She shook his sister by the shoulders. The dark haired woman's head flopped back. There was a big bruise blooming on her temple. She must have fought back.

"Wake up!" she shouted right in her ear. The woman groaned. She shouted again. The woman sat bolt upright, pupils dilated. Panic covered her features. Then she got this dreamy look for a moment. Josephine pulled her up after the woman shook her head and asked,

"How did I end up on the floor?" Their memories had obviously been erased.

"Something is wrong with Anakin," she said. As soon as those words had come out of her mouth she was roughly pushed aside again as the doctor entered the room. Josephine followed behind.

"What wrong John?" she asked as she began to press buttons on the equipment. Her brother, John, was listening to Anakin's heart and checking his pulse, tapping his skin. The Jedi was semi-conscious. He was blathering something dazedly. His words were of no consequence. Neither of them mentioned the bullet imbedded in the wall and the knocked over chair. Josephine righted it and sat.

It took them ten minutes to stabilize Skywalker. Finally they leaned against the wall. Sweat crested both their brows. The slapped each other a low high five. Was this just a game to them? Keeping the most important discovery of the twenty-first century alive?

"He's fine now. You don't have to worry. Just don't excite him okay? Oh, and the press conference is in a half-hour. Bring that," the sister said and pointed at the lightsaber. Then they were gone, just as abruptly as last time.

"Lovely, just lovely," she hissed and began to pace. She decided she didn't really like those two. Anakin was breathing normally again and his heart beating steadily. He stared at the ceiling. She thought he was zoned out so Josephine jumped when he spoke.

"Where am I?" his head turned to her.

"Earth," she said simply.

"And where is that?" he asked with a small smirk. This was the Anakin she knew from the television.

"Between the Perseus and Sagittarius arms of the milkyway galaxy." He just looked at her like she was insane.

"Yeah, that was not all that helpful. Are we in the outer rim? What are the coordinates? What is the planet number? Are you affiliated with the Galactic Republic, the Confederacy of Independent Systems, or the Council of Neutral systems? Are you the representative?" he asked all business. Good thing she has an amazing memory or she would have not been able to answer all his questions. The answers were all relatively simple.

"We are not in the outer rim, or any rim for that matter, we don't have a galactic coordinate system, and what is a planet number? Finally we are Earth, we stand alone. I am no representative, just the person who found you, and acquired medical help for you. I also got it paid for." He looked confused.

"Hold on, we are in the _arms_ of the galaxy?"

"Between them actually," he looked horrified.

"How did I get here? How are you alive? How did this human colony get here?" he seemed a little panicked. Under normal circumstances he wouldn't have acted this way. But he was once again restrained and his entire leg was encased with plaster. There was shooting pains everywhere except his leg, which made him extremely nervous.

"Your ship crashed, the atmosphere is 21 percent oxygen, and we evolved here. Well, conspiracy theorists say we only evolved with the help of aliens. They might be right," she smiled weakly. He wasn't laughing. "Okay, bad joke." She looked at her watch and let out a hushed swear. "I'm sorry, but I need to go. Press conference. I need to kill this before we get killed." This time she wasn't kidding.

"Wait," he said. He was a general again. Josephine stopped and grabbed his comlink off the pile bloody clothes. She turned and walked back to him.

"I'm sorry,"

"For what?"

"For," he pauses, then manages to say it. "Earlier." He gulps. So he remembers the kiss. Kisses.

"Hey," Josephine says and places the com-link in his hand, wrapping his robotic fingers around it. "Hey. Don't worry about it. Call Rex Ahsoka and Obi-wan. You will be fine." Then she was gone.

Anakin was left wondering how she knew that.

* * *

_Okay another chapter! It's short but kinda sweet. The next one is mostly going to be from Obi-wan's and Anakin's point of view. They're be a little of Josephine and the rabid press, but we've learned enough about her for now. Metirc tons of thanks to **mrs skywalker****987 **for reviewing all my chapters! It is for you and I that this story continues to be written. So if you want extremly fast updates review yourself! I believe others I reading this so i beg you on my knee to press that little button!_


	5. Orbit of Manipulation

Anakin decided to follow her advice. He actually felt pretty insolent for not calling earlier. Obi-wan was probably furious and Ahsoka was probably frantic. Rex, well he probably wasn't showing all that much emotion. He would laugh at Anakin if he could see him now wearing this ghastly paper covering and covered in plaster. Anakin would laugh himself, if he wasn't in so much pain and didn't have his lightsaber. He recalled Josephine holding it as she left him, and he was glad she had it verses anyone else on this mysterious planet. At least he knew she wasn't trying to kill him. She would have just left him in his ship if that was what she wanted.

She had kissed him too. Every time those hazy memories surfaced he flushed with embarrassment. He didn't remember exactly what he had been groveling about but he did remember moaning like an idiot and begging her to kiss him. She had complied, which confused him a little. Why would she do something like that? It wasn't important now. He needed to contact his master.

"This is Anakin Skywalker, over," he spoke clearly into the little black device. He may not understand cell phones but he did understand this.

"Anakin," said a relived voice on the other end of the line. "By way of the force you're still alive."

"Of course master. Did you think a little malfunction in hyperspace could get rid of me?" Obi-wan chuckled. He was too happy to be mad. Anakin had been too far away to sense through the force. Just now was the _Resolute_ getting close enough that he could sense a flicker of Anakin's presence.

"I would sure hope not. That would not shed good light on my teaching skills would it?" It was Anakin's turn to laugh. "Well now that the status of your life has been confirmed, what is your condition?" Kenobi's voice was worried. He spoke with a fatherly manner Anakin had craved while in the painful dream world.

"To tell you the truth Master, I'm not really sure. The humans here have me hooked up to all these machines and there is not medical droid in sight. In some ways they seem primitive but in other ways they seem more advanced than us," he said calmly. The pain in his chest was easing. The force was knitting his body back together.

"Interesting. You are stable?"

"Yes it seems as much. Though I have difficulty understanding the code they are using on their machines." For once he missed C3PO and his ability to speak and read all the registered galactic languages.

"This colony, who are they allied with?" Obi-wan seemed extremely calm now and little emotion punctuated his words.

"No one it seems. Not even the Neutral Council. The girl who rescued me she described them as 'Earth, we stand alone.' Though they haven't killed me or shown any hostility at all so I believe it would be safe for you to enter the atmosphere."

"Wait, a little girl rescued you?" Obi-wan was stifling a laugh.

"She is not really little," Anakin said trying to hide is indignity. "She is older than Ahsoka."

"Well then why didn't you say woman?"

"Because…" he trailed off. Why hadn't he said woman. She sure acted like one. A Jedi even. She stared that death machine in the face and didn't even flinch. She had wielded his lightsaber with skill that surprised him. Usually beings who were no force sensitive had extreme difficulty with the Jedi's weapon of choice. Anakin had this strange urge to protect her though, something deep in his force connection. He felt the exact same way about Ahoska and slightly different but similar with Padme.

"There is something about her Obi-wan. Something different."

"It is the will of the force that you crashed on this planet and she came to you. There is a reason for everything my Padawan." They did not speak for a moment each pondering this girl. Anakin broke the companionable silence.

"How long until you arrive?"

"About twenty standard minutes. I must hand it to you Anakin. You find the most difficult places to evacuate you from and then crash there," Obi-wan said with a smile in his voice. Anakin pretended to be offended.

"Not every time!" That's when he heard two extremely familiar voices in the back ground. One was rough and obviously a clone. The other was higher and female. Obi-wan's voice seemed farther away for a moment.

"Captain Rex, Padawan Tano, we have made contact with Anakin," There was rustling noise and a laugh from Obi-wan. Then Ahsoka's thrilled voice came over the other end.

"Master!"

"Good to hear from you snips," he said with a weak chuckle. This was the younger Ahsoka. The one who counted the droids she dismantled. This was before she had become more serious, battle hardened. Before she had begun wearing new clothes and carrying two lightsabers. Before Anakin had watched her change before his eyes. Sometimes he missed the old Ahsoka. The one who was quick to laugh and was always trying to prove herself to the clones.

"Sky guy," she laughed. "You are really good at getting yourself into trouble,"

"And you've spent too much time with Obi-wan,"

"That's your own fault!"

"No, it was my fighters fault. The hyperspace ring malfunctioned. I'm just glad R2 was in the repair shop. He would have been demolished by that crash."

"I'm glad you're alright General," that was Rex.

"Me too Rex. How have the troops been holding up?"

"Well enough sir. We have been in no major battles since your disappearance sir. Should we be expecting one when we come and get you?"

"I don't believe so. The locals have been friendly enough,"

"I will tell the troops not to provoke the natives," and then com-link is passed off again.

"Anakin, don't go anywhere. We have a lock on your signal."

"Don't worry Master. My leg is encased with some sort of rock. I'm strapped to the table. I'm not going anywhere."

"Suddenly these people do not seem so friendly."

Josephine stared out at a room of expectant reporters. There were seven different microphones under her chin and at least as many TV cameras. To top it all there were maybe fifty pro-nicon Tabloid photographer's dreams pointed at her. She leaned over the microphone and enunciated perfectly.

"And this is his lightsaber," she pressed the button and the blue light entered the room with a hiss. People went crazy and cameras flashed from all angles. She was blinded for a few moments and deaf for longer. The barrage of questions could not be understood as people tried to shout over one another. They had all stood up at the same time to, knocking chairs onto the ugly carpet. It was chaos, and for the first time in her life, Josephine felt she had _real_ power.

She loved it.

The _Resolute_ exited hyperspace right beside the moon. It took some difficult maneuvering to keep from crashing through its thin atmosphere but the clones managed. It was nice to come out of hyper space and not be attacked by Separatist destroyers.

They pulled around the silvery rock and came into view of the culprit planet. It resembled Naboo in many ways with the expanses of Blue Ocean and green continents. Clouds swirled in beautiful patterns over the surface. General Kenobi found it quite stunning. The entire crew did. That was until a metal object screamed by at thousands of miles an hour. That's when the sensors picked them up. In the center was a circle, Earth, as Anakin had called it. Around it were thousands of blinking dots. Space debris it was assumed. Though life forms were picked up in one, and Obi-wan put two and two together.

"It is their rudimentary space crafts. They must be for communication and Scientific endeavors. How intriguing. Please try and avoid them Point."

"Will do sir," said the pilot clone as the swooped toward the atmosphere and entered orbit. A red light was flashing in communications, they were being hailed. Obi-wan took the device handed to him.

"This is the head of the CIA. We are requesting understanding for why your ship is entering our atmosphere," the man's voice was hard to discern from all the static. Definitely rudimentary technology.

"We are here to extract Jedi General Anakin Skywalker from your system. Do you have a place where it would be possible to land?" Obi-wan glanced at a clone that had picked up another hail. And another. And another. Seventeen lights were blinking out of sync. The words coming from the microphones were all in different languages, none of which he recognized. They had different governments on the same planet? How did they survive without destroying themselves with war?

"That is ridicliou-" the man suddenly stopped speaking. There was a hushed whisper on the other line. Then he continued. "There is no place for you to land a craft as large as yours. You must send a small shuttle craft to remove your general." Then there was silence. The connection had been terminated.

"Well that was informative," Obi-wan mumbled to himself with rare sarcasm. Cody actually glanced at him for a moment before he relayed his report.

"We have entered the upper atmosphere. Should we begin orbiting?"

"Yes, that would be the best option now that we have been contacted by these people. We should do as they ask. We do not know their weapon capabilities,"

"I will get right on it sir. Who will be going down in the landing party?"

"Ahsoka, Rex and I. If he feels the need for more troops he may bring them. You will hold the ship down. Commander Cody," he says and the man in armor stands up a little straighter. "You are in command."

"Yes General."

Obi-wan was coming. Anakin wouldn't admit it, but he felt helpless lying here. He was glad two people with lightsabers were going to show up. He didn't have the strength to force choke another human. Their makeup was slightly dissimilar to the humans he was used to. They were fleshier, but they seemed to be denser. Larger over all. It was a strange, disconcerting feeling. To see people of the same species but so different at the same time. He found himself yearning for Josephine. She seemed to be his guardian at this point.

And she had his lightsaber.

She had managed to escape from the press through a back door as they crushed toward where they thought she was. She ran through the halls on the eighteenth floor, flying down all the stairs, and then calmly opening and closing the door so no one would know who she was. It was an unnecessary precaution because there was no one here. She slipped back into Anakin's room.

"I'm glad your back," he said with a smirk. She laughed a little bit. In the pit of her stomach the acids were churning. She hated herself for what she was about to do. The smile died on her lips. "Obi-wan's going to be here soon." He seemed relatively oblivious to her inner turmoil. It didn't say that way for long.

"Anakin I'm sorry for what I going to do to you." His eyes went wide almost like a child's.

"You're going to kill me," he said it like a fact.

"No, nothing like that," he sighed with relief. Then she played the recording.

* * *

_Hey another chapter up! I will be updating my other story Let Your Hair or Something Down soon. Hopefully. With Christmas it's been crazy. Anyway thousands of stars of thanks to **deathgoddesses and mrs skywalker987**! All reviews are worth their weight in internat gold. Josephine just pulled a big card on her contronl over Anakin. she will reveal why she tortures him so next chapter! So I don't have much to say. Hopefully next chapter will be up soon. _

_Kisses!_

_nat13cat (yeah i got my own penname wrong the first time. I am a sad person :D)_


	6. Who You Are

Anakin's voice pierced the room like a needle an over filled water balloon. It was filled with static and broken, but there was no question that it was him.

"Padme…" he recoiled with the first word. She turned it off before it got any farther than that.

"I know you and Padme are married. That you met when you were nine. Your romance began with Geonosis. I know everything Anakin, I know the galaxy's past," she paused and stared directly into his beautiful eyes, one marred by a scar. "More importantly I know what is going to happen in the future. So that is why you need to take me with you when Obi-wan arrives here."

"What!" he seemed angry. What a surprise. "You, your,"

"Older than Ahsoka,"

"Ahsoka has been trained as a Jedi since she was three,"

"I can handle it. I'm not going into battle. I am going to represent Earth in the senate,"

"They'll eat you alive,"

"Anakin," she extends her hand. "Kiss my fingers." She looks him right in the eye and narrows her black irises. He tries to stop himself from his robotic hand from reaching up and taking hers and bringing it to his lips. He recoiled from her fingers like she was dead when the deed was done. He felt it in the force. There was so little prodding. It was just compelling to do exactly as she said. It was like she was a healer Jedi, only with mind tricks.

"Jedi aren't allowed in the senate," her eyes went wide and she stumbled back a little.

"I am no Jedi!"

"Only a Jedi could have made me do that just now."

"I'm from Earth! There is no force here!"

"You are here, I am here," he said with a small smirk. He thought he had her cornered, she could see it in his eyes. He seemed to have forgotten the recording.

"I don't really want to do this, but I will if I must." And she pressed play again. "Padmae…" his voice bounces through the room. "I'm not Padmae," his eyes flickered from her own. He looked at the ceiling as if hoping to the force. "Why are you here? We are under attack. You could be killed. I could never live with myself if you were killed. It might drive me to the dark." Anakin is looking at her now. His eyes beg her to stop. She wants to. She really does. But she steels her soul and shakes her head a little.

"I'm not Padmae." Her voice cuts out again. 'I'll call a shuttle and get you shipped out. Then I won't have to worry anymore my love,"

"I am not your love,"

"Please don't fight me on this. It is for the best. Naboo needs you, the senate needs you. What about that bill you are about to pass?"

"Please stop,"

"I will never stop fighting. Not until this body can't breathe and my heart doesn't pump. Until they have to replace absolutely everything with circuits and metal, I will fight,"

"What will you fight for?"

"This was has been going on for too long. It takes us away from our real jobs, and more importantly from each other. I don't see you anymore. What… what happened?"

"You were gravely injured when your fighter crashed." Anakin's face is deadly.

"Hurry Padmae, the ship is leaving. You need to evacuate,"

"I am not your love Anakin,"

"Don't play your political games with me. You know I don't like that. Just kiss me and be off to safety,"

"I am not who you think I am,"

"Kiss me Padmae,"

"Anakin…"

"What is wrong? There is another man isn't there-"

"No, there isn't!"

"Why don't you do it then?" his voice rises and the Anakin who lies before me closes his eyes. As if he knows what is coming. "I am not your wife!"

"I love you," he says like he is ruined.

"Damn you! Damn you," then there are the noises of lips touching.

"Again," he says. "Before we are separated for force knows how long in this bloody war." There is more kissing.

"Recording terminated. Save or Erase?" the computer voice intoned. I shut the phone. Anakin said nothing. A storm cloud had blown over his eyes. His brows had darkened.

"I will not tell. Never. Just convince Obi-wan to take me and I'll delete it with you there to watch. Okay?" she comes up to him and gets down on her knees at his bed side. She pressed her forehead to the cool metal and let her spine bend for once. "Please…" embarrassingly her voice cracked on the last pitch.

"Josephine," he said softly, almost tenderly. There were warm fingers on her cheek but she didn't look up. Her dreams were coming true and she was destroying them.

"I'm sorry," she says and begins to shake. Crying? She wanted to smack herself silly for it. Though she could do nothing about it. "I'm so sorry," his hand awkwardly patted her hair and the sickness came. The shivering cramping sickness that had devastated her since childhood. Since she began controlling others with her voice. It racked her body and she collapsed to the ground. She shouldn't have exerted influence over all those people. Curling into a ball she continued to cry, now from pain as lights exploded before her eyes. She whimpered a little.

"What's wrong? What's going on?" Anakin said rather loudly. She wanted him to be quite. Her ears were bleeding. Josephine's stomach rolled and she got to her hands and knees, hair hanging limply into her eyes where it fell out of her bun. The acid filled her mouth and her vision exploded again. Anakin was saying something but she had no idea what it was_._ Her muscles screamed as the clenched down on one another. Her bones felt like they were going to liquefy and drip out her pores._ I'm not gonna vomit. I'm not gonna vomit. _Those were her main thoughts. But under lying voices of malice and darkness bled like ink in water. _Kill him. It would be so easy. Take him hostage. Offer ransom. Take over the entire galactic senate. You know it would be so easy. Imagine the power, the money. Then you could take Anakin for your own. He wouldn't be a threat anymore. Just kill him; just kill him….._The pain stopped.

They had all been her voice.

Anakin watched helplessly as Josephine convulsed. She supported herself on her hands and knees, muscles rippling unnaturally under her skin. Even though she was in obvious pain, she made no sound. Not a shout or even a whimper crossed her lips. He had tried to brush her mind with the force to ease her agony but had jerked quickly back when he felt it. He had never encountered someone with a mind like this before. The weak minded had tangled thoughts, like a house with all the doors and windows wide open. Stronger minded people still lived in houses, but everything was locked. It wasn't impossible to get in, but more difficult. The Jedi masters had minds like polished metal spheres. You just slid off, changing nothing. Her mind was different. It was a fortress. Her brain half way between a sphere and a house. The steel gates were locked with thick chains and walls soared fifty feet into the air. It bristled with weapons. This was all metaphorical mind you, just the easiest way to explain it. He had never entered a mind with barbs before. Well to say entered was an over statement. He drew away very quickly when she almost overwhelmed him. He had never met a force sensitive being only able to use the mind before.

For those few milliseconds he had been there however, he sensed troubling darkness. Like a plague that seeped from the depths of the underground. This was reinforced when she stood. It was deliberate and slow. Her legs shook as she took hold of the edge of the bed.

"What happened?" he asked rather bluntly. "Are you okay?"

"I am fine," she enunciated her words very carefully and precisely, like the very practiced at being very drunk. Her dark hair hung limply in her face and she looked at him for a moment. The expression chilled him. Her face was white like new clone armor and her lips like their blood. A little bit of her own glinted on fresh teeth marks. Her eyes seemed even darker, if possible. The empty void of space rested their, and it wasn't looking too friendly. For a moment it was just him and her eyes that bored into his own. He had seen that look before. When bounty hunters were about to kill you. And recently on Ahsoka on the battle field. He had been told he wore that look almost all the time. It was made a tad more frightening because her thumb was hovering over the activation button to his light saber. It twitched and moved down a bit. He knew saying something might set her off. He was pretty much defenseless, too drained to use the force and too banged up to use his size and strength to his advantage. Her thumb moved a little closer. Then life came back into her eyes and she flinched when she saw him, placing the light saber gingerly on his chest, fingers lingering on his neck brace, and then stepped away. Black clouds swirled menacingly outside the windows. Anakin couldn't help but feel the warning in them. This girl wasn't what she seemed to be.

Josephine had been wrong in her prediction as she gazed out the window, back to Anakin as he contacted Obi-wan again. The sky was not going to pour freezing rain down the necks of society. Instead snow fluttered gently to the already dusted pavement below. Anakin's voice was a soft white noise in the background. She hopped he didn't notice how tightly she clenched her fists or her forehead pressed to the hoarfrost glass. Her breath condensed on the window in phantom blooms. Then they would shrivel and die only to be replaced with another.

He had no idea how close she had come to killing him. Even with her fingers so desperately locked to her palm they were shaking. It had been terrifying. With her whole being she had wanted to just stab him. Something had stopped her, and she was glad for it.

"We will be there in five minutes Anakin," she recognized Master Kenobi's voice. Tentatively she turned to him her face carefully composed in a meek expression.

"May I speak with Master Kenobi?" she asked softly.

"Who is that Anakin?" the static voice asked. He looked up at her, blue eyes in a mirror of the expression she had worn when he had lain below her.

"Her name is Josephine. And I'm not sure who she is."


	7. Surprise in the Snow

"Well while that was extremely informative Anakin." Josephine can picture the eye roll. "She seems to want to talk with me. Let the girl speak," Anakin reluctantly handed over his glove. His robotic fingers, obviously mechanical compared to Luke's in the future, release the leather.

"Master Kenobi, it is a pleasure to finally speak with you. My name is Josephine Dethkilr and I have been representing your padawan on Earth. I will be traveling with you to the Courasant to represent my planet in the galactic senate." Anakin was staring at her as she spoke, fingers twitching. He seemed to want to snatch the glove out of her hand if she said something he didn't want Obi-wan to hear. "How long until you begin approach?"

"Just a minute,"

"Please try and contact the hospital for direction on where to land. In this weather you never know if the helicopter needs the landing pad," snow swirled outside the window and the wind screamed past the building. Josephine couldn't see the ground. She handed the glove back to Anakin who took it gratefully. With his other arm in a cast he couldn't seem to get it back on. Josephine took it gently from his and pulled it over his fingers. She could see the pain it caused him to have her do even that simple task for him, but it was necessary. Determining that he wanted to be alone she strode to the window and clasped her hands tightly behind her back. She pretended not to listen to the whispered conversation. It was nothing of consequence to her. Anakin would have to convince Obi-wan to take her or risk his own exposure. Not that she wasn't going to tell Obi-wan sometime in the future. She would do everything in her power to keep Anakin from going to the dark side. And if it took revealing his deepest secret to his master, so be it.

After a few more moments of this Anakin closed off his connection. Josephine could see the ship in the distance. A trill of relief swept through her when she saw it was small. It would have never been able to land on the roof if it was any larger.

"I see them General Skywalker," it was a conscious decision to refer to him by is military rank. Distance was going to be necessary in the times to come.

"Yes, Obi-wan said he saw the hospital." Josephine stretched then cracked her neck and back. Her hunger, forgotten in the stress of her seizure, hit her full force. It twisted in her gut and a head ache bloomed behind her eyes. Her whole body thrummed with it. She had never been truly starving before, and now she knew what it felt like. She hadn't eaten in almost two days. She was probably dehydrated as well.

"Take your lightsaber, I'll be right back," and she handed it to him. Quickly she left the room whose walls were suddenly closing in on her. She tried walking fast but ended up running to the public bathroom on this floor. She banged into the door and gripped the sink with white knuckles, not daring to look at herself in the mirror. Only now did she realize it wasn't hunger chasing her. It was guilt. She felt guilty for blackmailing Anakin, for manipulating the nurses and the doctors, for manipulating the reporters and George Lucas himself. She was guilty for things she wouldn't even admit to herself, for crimes yet committed.

"…Jedi can't be senators…" Anakin's words echo through her head. She was no Jedi. She couldn't move things with the force; she couldn't meditate for long periods of time. She couldn't be one. No, it was impossible. She wouldn't allow herself to be one.

_Then how come people do what you say, forget what you tell them to forget, and never question you? _Her thoughts contradicted. _How come Anakin crashed in your forest, verses all the other forests on this planet?_ She didn't know. It was hopelessly confusing and she wanted to scream. But she didn't. Josephine sipped water from the faucet until some of the anxiousness drained away. Then she stood and straightened her hair, retied her ridiculous bathrobe, and covered her chest again. She felt practically naked in her t-shirt and cotton shorts.

Calmly she proceeded back to the room, not bothering to knock but opening the door softly. Leaning over Anakin were three people.

One was short and orange with blue and white striped montrails. The second was covered in blue and white armor, helmet under one arm and blaster in hand. This one turned to her, arm raising when she walked in. In his fist was one of his twin blaster pistols. She held her hands out in the galactic symbol of being weaponless. The third and final face turned with this motion and Josephine was met with the mug of General Kenobi.

"Captain Rex, please lower your weapon. If I meant your general harm I would have killed him when he was fourteen fifteenths dead," she says with a pleasant smile and she lowers her hands. The man warily does the same. Josephine strides to Anakin's side and reads the monitors. She fiddles with his neck brace until it is on correctly, and then walks around the bed, unsnapping his restraints and gently lowering his leg from where it was attached to the ceiling. He tries not to wince as he speaks.

"Master, Rex, Snips, this is Josephine," she smiles but doesn't really look up from her work of mobilizing Anakin. The doctors couldn't be called in or they would never get out of here. With the press and the twins and the men in black it would be impossible. They needed to go stealthily. She considered the IV. Alarms would surely go off down stairs if she unplugged it. It would have to be the last thing to go.

"I'm sorry to move you so quickly but we must leave immediately. There are many people after Master Skywalker, and his lightsaber." Obi-wan looked a little surprised at this comment.

"So he did manage to get himself into even deeper trouble than just crash landing here and almost killing himself," Obi-wan said with a small smile. Anakin grumbled something under his breath that caused Rex to snicker and Ahsoka to quickly cover her mouth with her hand. "What was that Anakin?" Obi-wan asked seriously, but only Josephine saw the smirk flickering in the corners of his mouth.

"Nothing Master," Anakin said with puppy eyes, playing the innocent card. Ahsoka rolled her own azure irises.

"Well to answer your question, it's not really his fault. This planet has gone twisted in its ways. Sickened with greed and corruption. Sooner or later something will snap and it'll fall into chaos," she shook her head and smiled, eyes refocusing. "For now we survive. I take it your ship is on the roof?" Rex nodded. "We will proceed to the elevator; I'll have the bed and stolen equipment paid for. We have to get him into the ship before he is chilled by the snow. There is nothing much under the paper he is wearing,"

"I'll get you a blanket for your… sir," Rex said with an almost perfectly straight face. It was ruined by a small snicker when he was about to say something that wouldn't have been quite appropriate. Anakin looked reasonably horrified at the description of his state of dress. He tried to look but Ahsoka held his head down.

"You'll injure yourself farther sky guy. And I don't want to listen to complain all the way to Courasant."

"I wouldn't _complain_," he emphasized the last word as he once again tried to sit up.

"So you would whine then, same thing." He growled,

"Snips…" Ahsoka laughed. Obi-wan chuckled lightly. He seemed practically giddy, for Obi-wan anyway. Maybe seeing his Padawan alive had this effect on him. Josephine watched this all with distance. This was a realm she was not part of.

"I apologize for interrupting but we must go now," and she unplugged Anakin.

"I'll push the general," Rex volunteered and we maneuvered him out the door with much protesting about how he could walk. Obi-wan took charge after that.

"I'll take the rear, Ahsoka you take point," and they began to run. It was surreal, seeing them all in motion. She thanked all those hours on the elliptical for her ability to sprint with them. They seemed to take the whole ordeal like they were in the halls of an enemy ship, rather than the corridors of a hospital. It was actually funny watching Ahsoka try to work the elevator. She walked up to it and seemed to expect the door to just open.

"Blast!" she swore and banged her fist against the door when it didn't open immediately. "I'll fix you," and she went to draw her lightsaber. I gently grabbed her wrist.

"Allow me," and I pressed the up arrow beside the door.

"Aren't those just for astromechs?" she asked curiously examining the button. Josephine couldn't restraint a laugh.

"That's the only way to get the elevator to come. It does take forever, but this is a tall building." She looked at me, massive blue eyes questioning.

"This is tall?" she snorted. "This would be a hut on Courasant," she flicked the button with her finger. "A low tec hut."

"Let's not judge Padawan Tano," she sighed and rolled her eyes to the ceiling. Like master, like Padawan. Anakin and Rex were deep in their own conversation and she overheard words like shield and fire power. She doubted she'd find it stimulating.

Finally the elevator opened and they hustled inside. Josephine took the spot by the controls and closed the doors, selecting roof from the panel. After about fifteen seconds of rising Ahsoka was tapping her foot and staring at the needle.

"This is the slowest lift in the history of lifts. The one that took us down was even faster than this bucket of bolts," Josephine decided it wasn't a good time to mention that it was in fact the same elevator that had brought them down. At that point the doors opened and cold air flowed into the chamber. Rex had already put his helmet on and was unaffected by the snow billowing over their feet.

"We need to get the general to safety. What do you suggest sir?" he turned to Master Kenobi.

"That we just go Rex. There is no cover and seem to be no people either. I believe it is safe to move forward." Rex nodded and began wheeling Anakin out, whose teeth immediately started to chatter though he tried to hide it.

See, that's when everything went wrong.

There was a shout and the sound of metal cable slipping through pulleys. Immediately they were surrounded by men in armor climbing over the edge of the roof. All their guns were pointed directly at the group. Two lightsabers hissed into being. Josephine debated whether to snatch Anakin's from where it lay on his chest but decided against it.

"What do you want?" she shouted over the howling wind that snatched at her hair with greedy fingers and drove slivers of ice into her skin. There was no reply. "Why have you come here?" the only answer was the scream of the wind. Josephine glanced longingly toward the ship as they were cut off from escape.

"I knew I should have brought a squad," Rex muttered as he tried to cover for Anakin. That's when a man came striding out of the ship. He wore a black suit, actually looked very similar to the men who had attacked Josephine and Anakin earlier. Except this man had a scar from his lip to his jaw and wore mirrored glasses.

"I want the human girl to step forward. Just her," Obi-wan through Josephine a glance but she didn't look at him. Covertly she took the lightsaber off Anakin's chest and slipped it into her robe. No one else noticed. She walked calmly until she was normal conversation distance away. "See, was that so hard?" he closed the gap between them and rubbed his thumb over her cheek. He smiled then, and it was awfully frightening to see. He then whispered to her so no one else would hear, so the wind would carry his words away. "It's good to see you again my dear,"

"And you to," she said with a small secret smile. Always playing the game. She turned to the group, injured Anakin and Rex trying to protect him. Obi-wan and Ahsoka eyes trained on her warily, lightsabers in their grip.

"I would put those away if I were you. They don't work against bullets," her voice was as icy as the wind that swirled around them. Neither of them moved. "And I really don't want to demonstrate how they work."

The entire team was in shock. Josephine had betrayed them. The man with the scar handed her a gun. He was smiling like a kid on Christmas morning, enjoying the show his little spy was putting on. She had done everything right, he was so proud.

Josephine held up the gun. It wavered between Obi-wan and Ahsoka, finally settled on Ahsoka. Anakin's eyes were wide with horror.

"I should have shot you when I had the chance," came Rex's heated reply. Both his guns were pointed at her still, even though if he shot her they would be torn to pieces by the ring of men. Her head swung round to him, and so did her gun. She was smiling.

"Yes, you should have." And that's when they realize it was all a distraction. She was going to shoot Anakin. Obi-wan deactivated his lightsaber.

"Stand down Ahsoka,"

"But-"

"Stand down," she had never heard Obi-wan so serious verging on anger. She deactivated her dual lightsabers. Josephine then stepped up to Rex and took his blasters, took Obi-wan's and Ahsoka's weapons as well.

"Josephine," she turned around to meet Anakin's call. "Why did you do it?" she didn't get a chance to answer. The man with the silver glasses wrapped his arm around her and replied,

"Why, she's my daughter."


	8. To Forget and To Forgive

Josephine stood on the bridge of the little ship and looked around. She believed it was the twilight. The ship Anakin and Ahsoka had procured during their escape from Teth. She remembered when she had watched the movie that had only gotten two stars because it was basically a character introduction and immediately fallen in love with the series. She remembered squeaking like some people did over Robert Patterson or whatever his name was when Anakin came on the screen. She had fond memories of quieting the people around her when she watched the show. She remembered her sick obsession for it like some would a good friend long passed.

It was over now. Her soft world of fuzzy edged dreams had been shattered when Anakin crashed into her mountain. See, from the minute she awoke to the resonating sound waves indicating a sonic boom she knew her real life was going to twist its way into her semi-reality. See, she had two fathers. Neither was her blood father. The man who was most likely asleep on the couch while Helen and Mother watched T.V. was the one she had come to know since she was five. She loved him with all her heart. He had taught her to play tennis and throw a softball. He had always been there for her even with his soft spoken ways.

The man next to her had taught her how to shoot a gun and kill a grown man with just a thumb. He had found her in that awful place he had described but she didn't remember and doubted even existed. It justified his taking her, the child with mind control. Then he seemed to realize the flaw in his plan and had dropped her with this family. With her voice, none of the members even knew she wasn't really their daughter. She had made them remember giving birth to her, raising her, loving her. None of it was real. It was all fabricated and constructed through careful practice and fifty note cards that she kept in the hidden compartment inside her desk.

The issue was she was just a kid. Terrorist organizations wouldn't let a kid in. Politicians wouldn't trust an eight year old with handling things. So even though the mission he had told her about with the corruption and underhand stock trading in this town had been real, it had been much less real than he had made it seem. There were two corrupt politicians and three underground traders in the entire town and they were taken care of in less than a month. As she matured and her assignment never changed she realized it. Her _daddy _had dumped her there to try and keep her secret and alive until she looked old enough to carry seventeen fake ID's with the number 21 written next to age. She wasn't useful yet so there was no point of keeping her around.

He had visited once this year with directives and the state of the world. It was nowhere close to what was said on the news. She had been groping for real information in the media's knotted and tangled truths but never seemed close to the answers. He had enlightened her this summer when he and his men had appeared at summer camp, hidden discreetly in the woods. Silently she and snuck out of the tent and the group proceeded to the extremely close shore where any uttered words would be covered up the sounds of the ocean. He even hadn't touched her until she had brought him his prize today.

Now he had expected her to betray her new friends for him. She had done as he expected like a good little girl. Josephine stared at her reflection in the window of the ship. Snow twirled through her face and body. Her closed and buttoned expression did not match her ridiculous clothing. Her expression was a mirror of the man's who stood next to her as he rubbed is sun glasses off on his suit then put them back on.

"You did perfectly Josephine. None of them realized you betrayal until it actually happened," he said in his usual smooth voice, with no inflection.

"I must say, sending in James John and Blake was a good move on your part. Though I must say my acting was impeccable," she said with a small satisfied smirk. Play the part.

"Yes, that was quite impressive. Now the question is what to do with our prisoners. You have the most experience on this subject, what is your verdict?" he said as he traced his fingers over Rex's blasters, then the three lightsabers in his possession. Two green, one blue. He didn't know about the third one slipped secretly into her robe. That one was for her own use.

"They must be knocked unconscious. We do not have facilities capable of holding them for an extended period. Once the shock where's off from my actions, they will use the force and escape this ship. I must be the one to do this for they can control others of you with their minds in a way similar to my own abilities. Not as powerful or effective I might add, but all the same it would be best if I did it,"

"You make a convincing argument. If you were anyone else I would not even consider this but due to your standing and abilities I believe it is necessary you handle this alone. I will come and examine the prisoners after your work is done," he turned from her, signaling her dismissal. His glasses reflected the light from the control panel like the glitter in a mad man's eye.

"Yes sir," she said to his back. Josephine had almost escaped when his voice echoed again.

"Do not disappoint me Josephine," and the way he said it made her feel like she already had.

The way to the brig was lit dimly by emergency lights, throwing twisted shadows onto the wall. They danced like mad hunch backs with crocked canes as her passing jingled them together in haunted music. They seemed to warn her back, that she would not be received well. _That was a given_, she thought to herself. She stood for a moment in front of the door and took a calming breath before proceeding forward. The door swished into the walls revealing a room in stark contrast to the hall outside. Everything here was painted white including the door and the floor. It was brightly lit so she had to squint and not move for a moment so she wouldn't crash into anything due to her lack of sight. When her pupils finally contracted to a comfortable size she took in the prisoners. Two blue eyes peered angrily from behind a door slit. There was only one door, so it must have been a large cell.

"You!" Ahsoka hissed. "You shouldn't have dared to come here. You betrayed us and I am going to kill you for it," this time Obi-wan didn't reprimand her for her harsh language. Still Josephine was not cowed and walked up to the door. She flicked open the slot with her foot.

"That little-" this time it was Anakin who coughed painfully and Rex changed what he was going to say. "Girl is back?" his voice was scathing with contempt.

"It was ill-advised for you to come here," Obi-wan's soft voice was punctured with a hint of violence. That's when she dropped the lightsaber and kicked it through the hole. The blue eyes widened in surprise.

"Pretend to be unconscious and Rex you'll need to take your helmet it off and place it somewhere. Stay that way until I say the phrase 'I would fear them if my name were liable to fear'. We will escape I promise you this." She stares back at Ahsoka, rarely blinking. No words are said for many moments. Josephine breaks the silence first. "I apologize for not telling you in advance. You had to believe my betrayal whole-heartedly for this escape to work," she sighs and fiddles with her bath robe. No one had bothered to give her knew clothes.

"This has to be a trick," Ahsoka's voice grumbles as her eyes disappear.

"How?" Obi-wan's voice is almost bitter. "We had nothing to fight with and this girl is not affected by mind tricks. What more could she have possibly done to us?"

"She could have killed us," that was Rex's snarl.

"I gave you back a lightsaber. It would be near impossible for anyone on this planet to kill you now unless you were surrounded by high caliber semi machine guns like you were on the roof," Josephine needs to make them see the truth or her plan will never work. She unlocked the door from the outside. No one jumped to attack her that was a good sign.

"We will do as you as you say girl from earth. If this is somehow a trick…." Ahsoka needn't complete her sentence. Josephine would be the first one to die and she accepted it.

"You should have trusted us," that was Anakin his demeanor changed with agony. They had taken him off the stretcher and tossed his clothes into the cell after the prisoners not careing about his tarnished state of being. She imagined him slumped up against the wall, Rex sitting beside him and glancing around analyzing the situation. She could picture the hot pain in his eyes, twisting his thinking and numbing his passion. Normally he would be the one threatening to kill her at point.

"I've been told since birth never to trust anyone," she pauses at the open threshold that leads back to darkness. "And I'm not dead yet."

The passageway didn't seem as foreboding on the trip back. Maybe it was the soft light of the control panel or the sound of hushed voices at the end. She joined her first father and a pair of women that looked like hospital staff in the bridge. When they turned and she saw their sunglasses, she knew they were her father's agents. How had she not picked them out in the crowd of workers? She was losing her touch in her years of soft life.

"The prisoners are prepared," she imitated his monotone.

"Good," he said to her. His blank face ignored the women as he strode back down the way she had come. "This is some of your best work, I must admit it Josephine." She paid his of hand compliment no heed. The women, whose fingers were wrapped around hand guns, frowned at her. They should be used to being dismissed like this Leader, her father, never took the time to do so formally. So who were they frowning at? Her? For being so young and better than them? Probably. She ignored their glares and trotted after _daddy_.

The white room was once again revealed this time there was silence. Leader had already stridden across the floor and had the door opened. He stepped into the surprisingly roomy cell and Josephine followed. They played the part well. Each had the appearance that they had fought and lost, except Anakin, who probably was passed out. He almost tripped over Ahsoka who was sprawled in the door way.

"An alien," he breathed and squatted down to look at her. Had he been any one else his hands would have shook as they neared her skin. Carefully with medical precision he examined her montrails and lekku trying to determine what was real and what was a head dress. He was chuckling to himself the entire time. She gave Ahsoka a lot of credit for not moving as his awed fingers touched his skin. Josephine see's Rex's jaw twitch just the tiniest bit. So he is protective of Ahsoka.

Then Leaders eyes shift to Obi-wan. He is in a similar position to Ahsoka sprawled on the floor. "A human…" he mutters and walks over to him, touching his chest with his boot but not rolling him over. "So this is where we came from. Or they came from here," he makes a thinking sound until his eyes alight on Rex. A glint enters his face and Josephine gets worried. Rex was the one most likely to move, without the Jedi's experience of meditating for long periods of time. And if he tried to take Rex's armor, well the plan would have to go much quicker. "What do we have here?" he said with almost childish glee and bent over Rex examining his armor and face. "A cloned soldier if I am not mistaken. This could change everything for the world!" he turns to Josephine and she stares back at him. "One man armies, metal limbs, the force!" he grins and turns to Anakin, getting down on his heels again. "What a world we will become, with men like him," his fingers grab his chin and turn Anakin's face to the side none-to-gently.

"Careful with that one," she says omitting the necessary sir.

"So you like this one," he looks back into his face and stands up. "I can see why."

"No, I never knocked him out. He was already unconscious when I entered. He could be playing," state the truth openly so it is unsuspected.

"In his half dead state, I doubt it," then he is very close and whispers softly, back of his hand on her cheek. "Unless you fear him."

"I would fear them if my name were liable to fear," and in one smooth movement Obi-wan is on his feet lightsaber activated and his arm pressed around the Leader's neck. His eyes go wide with shock, and then narrow with hate. He says nothing as the other stand and Ahsoka shudders. Rex comes over and pulls her a little too close for a common once over. Ahsoka doesn't seem to mind. Anakin groans and his eyes flutter but he does not stand up. Rex then rushes back to him.

"Are you all right sir?"

"Better than ever," he says weakly with a strained smirk. "Help me up,"

"But sir-"

"That's an order Rex," grudgingly the clone leans down and with the aid of Ahsoka help Anakin upright.

"Wait here, I'll return when the ship is clear of agents," she is almost out the door when her father speaks to her for the first time. It sends ice flowers blooming in her chest and mountain water dripping down her spine.

"I never knew you were weak _daughter_. I never thought you would betray your own world for a few good looking men and a red alien. I never thought you were a traitor,"

Josephine's feet freeze just like her voice freezes fire. She does not turn around when she speaks, "I never thought of you as one either. _Daddy_," and she sweeps away glad she has two fathers and one that loves her.

Josephine combed the ship for members of Leader's organization. Each one she grabs them by the shoulders and looks into their eyes and orders them off the ship. Each obeys without complaint, even the pair pretending to be nurses. She returns back to the Jedi's party and Obi-wan shoves her father forward, keeping his lightsaber close enough to her father's back that he can feel the heat and know he is a miss step from death.

"Please do not try anything, I do not wish to have to kill you," Obi-wan says and Josephine follows him to the gang way. Josephine's father turns to meet her eyes for the final time.

"If you ever come back to Earth, no matter how valuable you are, I will kill you personally," Josephine does not reply to those words. She just says calmly,

"Forget me," nothing changes in his face.

"Forget me," a confused curve follows his lips.

"Forget me," his eye brows pull together.

"Forget me," his eyes cloud over.

"Forget me," his face goes perfectly blank and the process is complete. Her black eyes turn to Obi-wan and she pleads, "Please remove him from the ship. We are dead to each other," and she turns and fades into the background. Obi-wan chooses to ignore the glitter in her shadowy eyes that can only be assumed as unshed tears and her half silent stuttered words,

"Forgive me."

* * *

_Another chapter written! Sorry I took so long I have been busy going back to school and writing my other story **Let Your Hair (Or Something) Down**. The next chapter is where our friends leave Earth and journey back into known space, the rims! (play intense music) Any way I thought I did nicely, and I would like to hear how YOU thought I did. Even if you want to totally bash me that's cool, I don't mind, just try to make it a little constructive. But if you've made it to this chapter, I highly doubt you hate the story. _

_I GIVE ULTRA MEGA AWSOME THANKS TO (more intense music)_

**_DeathGodesses! _**_You deserve and internet present!_

**_mrs skywalker987!_**_ For being here since the beggining an really encouraging me to write this fic you get a large internet present!_

_I thank all my readers even if you don't review. But I can't mention your name unless you do! So PLEASE DO! _


	9. There is a Monster in Your Closet

Josephine needs to find somewhere to go where the others cannot see her cry. She was a little surprised she had any tears left after all the upsets. The ship was starting up, so Ahsoka was probably on the bridge.

Behind the first door she opened was the medical ward. Anakin was on the small bunk, looking worse for wear with the mask on his face. Rex was helping the medical droid reposition the general. Josephine left before he got the chance to turn around and see her. That left only one room.

The detention block was just as stark as it had been before, but now everything was blurred as she cried. Even her stomach was upset, churning emptily. She crouched in the corner, bringing her knees up to her chest and her forehead on them. She took many shaky breaths as tears flowed freely down her face. She was a traitor to her own race. She had taken technology away that could have saved so many people's lives. She should have just killed Obi-wan when she had the chance. He was the wild card, the one that earth facilities would not be able to hold. If his metabolism was anything like Anakin's, drugs wouldn't work too well. He had mind control too, just like her. Ahsoka was just a girl, even though she was alien. They could have put her somewhere in Witch Mountain. Rex was just a man without his armor and his weapons. Anakin… well after he was healed he would have to be killed as well. He was just too powerful at full strength to remain alive. That she couldn't live with, because she would have to kill him. The awful images came unbidden to her mind.

_The room was white, much like the cell block on the twilight had been. Anakin was trapped to the wall by arm leg and neck cuffs. "Release him," she said to the mirror, actually glass behind which attendants were standing by to clean up the mess. Both a gun and a lightsaber were strapped to her hip. Anakin surged after her, but her mere voice stopped him. "Do not attack me," Anakin paused, eyes blurred and confused. "Get down on your knees," he didn't move. She felt him fighter her commands. "GET ON YOUR KNEES," she shouted and he immediately collapsed down. She walked up to him, eyes like polished marbles, just as cold, just as unfeeling. "We thank you for your services, but I am afraid you must be terminated," she said robotically. The gun was heavy in her hand as she brought it to his forehead. He had been angry, furious, filled with hate moments before. He had been ready to strangle the life from her and steal the lightsaber. Now, he just lowered his head. She had broken him. _

_Her finger pulled back on the trigger._

_The hero without fear fell back onto the floor. _

_Blood on his lips. _

_Blood on her hands. _

_Blood everywhere, falling like rain._

_All the while a voice chanting this could be yours, you could have power, go back, go back…_

_A scream._

The scream was hers. She was shaking on the floor, her seizure having returned from using so much of her will on her father. He now wanted to kill her. He was right in it to. The voice was still there, whispering for her to go back. Traitor, traitor, traitor.

"I am not a traitor," she said and shook her head, pressing her fingers to her temples and squeezing her eyes shut tightly. If another seizure came over her… what was to say she would ever wake up from it?

"A traitor would have actually betrayed us," a man stood in the doorway of the brig. Josephine looked up, not wanting to be seen half mad with over dose.

"Go," she blurted. "You don't want to see me like this," her voice was dark. Obi-wan stepped forward into the light. His gray blue eyes were filled with pity.

"But you do," he says and crouches in front of her. His acts like he is speaking with a terrified animal, trying to coax it to eat from his palm. "You want someone to know the torture you endure daily." She wants to deny it but can't. He is right and it brings on another onslaught of tears. How weak has she become?

"It is not so bad," she lies through here teeth.

"Even you cannot lie to me," his hand is warm on her shoulder. It was almost comforting. "You did the right thing, Josephine." Her name sounds strange on his lips.

"The right thing for my planet would have been to kill you and take Ahsoka, Rex, and Anakin hostage. When Anakin healed I would have to kill him. That would have been the right thing for the planet," she looks into his eyes that do not even flicker when she speaks of killing him. "It wasn't right for me. I am selfish. I am a traitor," She spits it out like broken teeth.

"No," he says softly and stands up, looking down to her, not on her. "You have a soul. That is what makes you different from your father." He is in the hallway when he catches the door. "Anakin is awake. He wishes to speak with you." Then he was gone like a friendly ghost. She really needed to learn how to move like that.

Still, her thoughts were not pure. Darkness still swirled there like left over medication. It still sparked and fired in her brain. It taunted her with her greatest fears and greatest wants. She didn't want Anakin to see her like this. Actually, she didn't want anyone to see her like this.

Her legs pulled her unwillingly to her feet. Long pale fingers braced her body against the wall as the room spun before her and the blood rushed from her head. It wasn't anything new but it was still upsetting to barely be able to stand. Walking was easier, thank the force, and she arrived at the medical ward just as Rex was leaving. His brown eyes narrowed as she flitted past him, but he said nothing. She noticed his fists clenched as well. So she wasn't the only one who wanted to strangle herself. The door closed quietly behind her the compressed air doing its job well.

Then it was just Anakin and Josephine. He wasn't wearing a mask and there was a data pad in his hand. It was most likely there to alleviate boredom and give him the sense he was doing something worth-while. He laid it beside his torso when she arrived.

"I am glad you came," he says like she had come to some party. He was not fit for such activities, though his attire had been changed. He no longer wore the puffy white neck brace. Instead a slim black contraption was strapped to his neck and jaw. The ridiculous hospital tunic was gone and replaced with trousers and a rough looking blanked that at first she thought was a potato sack. He was sitting up as well, which was good. He really shouldn't be, but she wasn't going to tell him that. The casts were gone as well replaced by more brace like contraptions. She saw the burnt plaster in the corner of the room. Obi-wan must have done that while Rex changed his clothes. It must have been a little bit awkward for the Jedi to have such medial tasks done for him.

"We need to talk," she wanted to face palm. She sounded like a girlfriend about to dump a pity date.

"Yes," his eyes hardened a little. "We do." Her eyes flickered to his chest where the blanket had fallen down. He was so damn beautiful…

Her eyes snapped back to his face. She would not let her mind be dulled. He was just another man. You've grown up surrounded by men. _Not as good looking as him…_ the darkness whispered. _He could be your forever. Just tell him so. _Her wild emotions must have drained the blood from her face. In the distance Anakin was saying her name but she just couldn't focus. Her knee's went weak and she collapsed into the chair. Finally her vision cleared and she slumped forward, head in her hands. They said nothing to one another for a while.

"What did you say no to?" he asks with feigned innocence. Her head snaps up.

"I spoke?"

"You said 'No, not him, not like this.' What were you talking about?"

"I-I…" she trailed off.

"I can sense some of your thoughts," he said, eyes closed in concentration. Josephine wanted to shut him out, slam the doors on his fingers. Instead she took a shuddering breath and slammed her doors _open_. Anakin gasped and his face twisted as her emotions poured out from her fortress like a reservoir from behind a dam. It exploded and crashed over him though she managed to stop it from sweeping him away. Instead he stood like a rock in the torrent, drinking in what he could before it was gone.

Anakin's face twitched a little. Rarely would he smile. Mostly his frown deepened, eyebrows drawing closer together. After a few moments Josephine grabbed hold of her mind again and slowed it to a steady trickle. Then she shut it off completely. Anakin opened his eyes.

"You gave up your father," he says suddenly. "You gave up everything you could have gotten from him, for this?" he gestures around the room with contempt in his eyes. "You gave up a family for us? You gave up your entire race, all of this, for a few lives?" His eyes burn the hottest type of fire.

"They were not my people. They treated me like _shit _unless I told them not to," the swear sounds horribly cruel on her lips. He had never heard it before, but he knows just by her usage it is crude. "My family has probably already forgotten me, since I'm not really their daughter. Worst of all, my _father_," she makes that sound like a swear as well. "He used me like you would use your lightsaber," her finger points to where it now rests comfortably on his hip. He opens his mouth, undoubted to pity her, and she doesn't want to hear it. "You didn't even have a father and were a slave during child hood. Do not pity me for my woeful life," he thinks woeful was meant to be sarcastic.

"That does not mean I cannot show empathy," his voice is too sweet. She does not deserve a mere thought from him, let alone empathy. It angers her that he still speaks with her after seeing her mind. He should be disgusted with her. Anger builds inside her bosom.

"You saw my mind," her voice hisses through the hair like a thousand snakes. She stalks up to him so she stands above him. "You saw the darkness that brewed there like still water. You saw what I thought of you, and this, and my life. You saw my loves and my desires and my poison and yet you still have the nerve to form words that are meant for my ears," darkness seems to flow towards her like it does toward Count Dooku and Ventress. She leans in close, out of his line of vision, and her breath warms his ear. "You will not remember the next minute,"

"What are you-"

"You will not remember the next minute,"

"Joseph-"

"You will not remember the next minute,"

"I will not remember the next minute," Anakin says in response.

"Slap me," he slaps her and there is a resounding smack. She laughs at the pain provided and touches her stinging cheek. It works.

"Touch me," she says and his hand reaches up and his fingers brush her own. His eyes are trapped in a body that might as well be Josephine's.

"Touch me like you love me," his hand immediately goes to her hips and his arm curls around her waist. Her hair tickles his face as she stares down at him.

"Kiss me," and against his own will he pulls them closer and presses their lips together. Neither closes their eyes during the brief gentle lip brush. Her lips then trail along his jaw and she nips just hard enough to leave a small mark. Then Josephine uncurls herself from Anakin with a small sigh.

"See," she says coldly. "I'm a monster," but Anakin's eyes are already clouding over as he forgets the last minute.

Josephine is gone. His lips taste sweeter than they did a minute ago and he vaguely remembers touching her.

Maybe she was a monster.

**Not much to say except thanks to **

**Cnwriter! my newest reviewer!**

**mrs skywalker987! for the most reviews**

**deathgodesses! for the coolest name ever and your support!**

**I THANK ALL THOSE WHO TAKE THE TIME TO READ THIS STORY TOO, but you remain anonomyus to me unless you review, so please do!**

**LOL (LOTS OF LOVE)**

**-nat13cat**


	10. Dancing and Other Illegal Things

**Warning: Contains Sexual themes. **

**Longer Chapter, different plot... other side of Josephine. **

**ULTRA THANKS TO**

**mrs skywalker987!**

**skywalker02!**

**Cnwriter!**

**I LOVE YOU ALL**

Josephine scrambled through the single closet on the Twilight for some scraps of cloth. She ended up with a torn and bloodied Jedi cloak; some senator clothing that is obviously Padme's, and a pair of ancient boots that probably belonged to the ships previous owner. In a discarded crate she found a body suit for a clone and a bag that had once held medical supplies. Into this she stuffed her salvaged cloth and went up to the bridge. They seemed to be exiting the atmosphere.

The sight of earth spread out before you, and seeing clouds as large as marshmallows, well it was humbling and enchanting. Josephine shamelessly pressed her face to the glass, her breath fogging the clear substance. What was equal in significance, or maybe even greater, was the Republic battle ship. Such a massive structure that functioned as a war machine and could travel through space was a sight to behold. As they neared it however Josephine controlled herself and she shifted back into her cool persona. Ahsoka decided she liked the other girl better. The one that was not so different from her. The one who sat there with her legs crossed and hands folded neatly on her lap while she managed to look down her nose at everything around her was in a totally different league. Even with all her careless elegance and poise, there was something in her eyes. Something she had never seen before. A steel to do what is necessary, even if it is not always right.

Even if it caused the haunting sobs Ahsoka had picked up on earlier.

Josephine prepared herself to disembark. "Just like an airport," she mumbled and Obi-wan turned to her.

"Hmm?"

"Oh, nothing. Don't worry." The Jedi master nodded and turned back to the controls. With ease they entered the bay and the massive hanger doors clanged behind them, officially sealing them off from space.

Commander Cody allowed himself a small sigh of relief when the rust bucket swooped into the ship. It had taken much longer than estimated to retrieve the General. Had there been a fight? Was someone else injured? His questions were answered when a familiar Torgurta head poked around the corner of the gang plank.

"Call the medical droids and the stretched bearers. Master's critically injured," she paused then smiled. "Again." Cody chuckled a little and re-laid her orders through the com. Then to his utter surprise a human girl stepped around Ahsoka. Well, to call her a girl wouldn't suffice. She stood with the grace and prestige of someone much older. Cody found his heart speeding up. Something about her was beguilingly terrifying and sexy. It was helped along because about three and a half feet of leg was tantalizingly exposed. Cody stiffens when her eyes, a few moments before had been roaming, rest on his visor. He is glad he decided to wear his helmet. She smiles and there is a surprising sincerity to it.

"Commander Cody," she takes a few careful steps down the ramp to him. Her hand is extended in what must be her planets custom greeting. He lets his own be shook. How did she know his name? This planet had absolutely zero contact with the rest of the galaxy. Somehow he doubted they had mentioned him to her. "I am soon to be senator Dethkilr of Earth." Well that explained her attitude but not her knowledge.

"Welcome aboard," he managed not to stutter. He had only ever seen human females from a distance, and never one with so much bare skin. Tail head dancers were something to behold, but it was something different with your own species.

"I am sorry to intrude, but is it possible to have quarters provided for me?" she asked rather sweetly. Cody was surprised at her gentleness. Her eyes betrayed her true colors. They were as black as deep space and just as harsh. He did not want to get on her bad side.

"Why of course Senator Dethkilr, right this way," he said and gestured for her to follow. In truth he should have found a lower ranking trooper to do this job, but he didn't like the way they were staring at her, and bringing her to her room would be too much for some of them. He was a command clone, he could handle it. Actually, after initial shock some of her luster had faded. She just seemed beaten down, worn around the edges. Almost ghost like as she made little sound behind him.

Almost like a Jedi.

After that disturbing thought the pair reached the lift to the private quarters. There were no goods in it, so they weren't forced together. Josephine was glad for it. Her energy was at an all-time low, and she believed it was from manipulating Jedi. It took what seemed to be monumental physical efforts just to have Anakin raise his hand under her command. She doubted her ability to even mildly suggest that Cody do anything. She was quite glad the man had decided to escort her, she didn't trust the others self-control quite as much. At that thought, an idea popped into her head. She smiled evilly. If she had a mother, she would be getting beaten right now. She wondered if they had a pole anywhere on this ship… it wouldn't be as good without one.

She had been trained for this. An easy way to get information out of men was to, well, sex it out of them. Also to drink, but that wasn't the point here. She didn't want information. She just wanted to give the troopers some fun. From what she had seen, there were no actual pinup girls in the army. Just posters of near naked Tail heads. Due to genetics she should be more appealing. Even if she wasn't, hey, she was flesh and blood and unclothed.

Cody opened the door to her new quarters. He braced himself for ridicule at their state or sarcasm at the size. To his pleasant surprise she just smiled at him and thanked him enjoyably.

"Where is the Med bay?" she asked politely.

"Down the hall to the left, up two flights in the lift. May I ask why?"

"Oh, no reason. Thank you Commander," he knew dismissal when he heard it and turned to go. A thin hand gripped his arm. "Cody, please tell your men in advance I may have trouble distinguishing them and that I give my sincerest apologies for this. I will try my absolute hardest to do so," Cody smiled under his helmet.

"Most don't even try," his voice was smooth and even. Then he was gone, leaving Josephine alone with her thoughts.

Cody had been correct; the med center was not far from her quarters. After tossing her only possessions into her room she had followed his instructions and almost walked into the door. It was fairly empty, a few lonely clones floated in Bacta and Anakin at the far end of the vast hangar like space was being prepared to join them. A medical droid somehow managed to sneak up on her.

"May I be of assistance Mistress?" it buzzed and rolled past her reorganizing a tray that seemed to be out of place.

"Yes actually. Do you have surgical tape; stitch wire and needles, scissors, and headache medication?" He swerved past her and rolled over to a different tray and began collecting the first three items.

"May I ask mistress why you need these items?" he asked in a surprisingly gentle voice.

"You'd rather not know," she whispered back, collapsing on an operating table. The droid trundled past and into a medicine cabinet.

"Oh," it said in a confused manner. "Oh," it repeated in an enlightened voice. Then it continued to mumble something that sounded suspiciously like 'organics and their preposterous courting rituals'. Its metallic hand passed her a small cup and she downed the aqua liquid without a second thought. It burned surprisingly hot on the way down and she sat up choking. To her even greater surprise it cleared her head ache right away. She felt a hundred times better, if not a little drunker. She collected the suspicious materials and thanked the droid with a smile before fleeing the scene. She didn't really want to watch Anakin be thrown in that heartless goo.

Back in her dark room she scrambled for a light switch, found none, and went for it.

"Lights," a bright fluorescent glow lit up the room and she squinted, letting out a small cry. Once her pupils had adjusted she dumped her bag onto the floor. The cloak might be salvaged. She snipped the burned and bloodied bits off and threw it on, looking at herself in the mirror. The slits up to the hip added to the character she was going to play. The senator's gilded shirt was surprisingly stiff, almost like a corset. It would have to function as the bra since she didn't wear one when she slept and she was still in her PJ's. The body suit felt her wrath next. She sliced the top from the pants and cut two strips of fabric from each leg, also shortening it and removing the waist, replacing it with a long purple scarf the senator had worn. Then she cut the legs off entirely, creating shorts near underwear. She sewed the sides back together in X box stitches, the entire time alternating between curses as she pricked her finger and thanking family consumer science. She pulled them on and tossed the rest of her clothing on her bed. She continued the patter on the rest of the legs which she cut into two pieces each, slipping them on. The ugly boots met scissors and through a force miracle and some tape she created rather appealing boots. Extremely proud of her self she walked into the cramped refresher and found a hair brush after nearly two minutes. Swiftly she unmated her wavy brown hair and smirked at the mirror, running her tongue over her lips. That's good , very sexy. After continuing to rummage she found a small bottle of lotion, unscented. She stuck it down he waist line for future use. There was no perfume and no makeup. The first wasn't a big deal; she still faintly smelled of the perfume she had worn barely two days ago. Days? It felt like eons. Makeup was a problem. To be a, cough, dancer… you needed makeup. Some simple ash mixed with lotion would do. Maybe motor oil… With that thought she went back into her main room. Together the spaces were probably only half the size of her room back home, but she didn't mind. In fact she preferred it. No windows, only one entrance and very little room for people to hide. She would have to figure out the locking mechanism later.

After makeup, she needed music. Somehow she doubted they had speaker systems on a republic cruiser. Maybe the clones had smuggled one somewhere. It wouldn't be near as much fun without a heart driving beat. She through on her cloak and smiled at her full length reflection. Actually, the only part of her face you could see was her lips, and they were bright red. It revealed the leg she was not wearing much fabric on up to the hip. It wasn't classy like she usually dressed, but it was defiantly sexy.

In the hall she stopped some clones mid stride. Two actually walked into each other as she passed. Was she really that good? She didn't think so. Josephine was fading away and she was becoming one of her fake ID's. Eighteen year old Nerissa Tierain, entertainer, hustler, criminal. The girl who busted multiple underground organizations in the Connecticut region. In the main hanger she stayed to the shadows until she found a small container of something black. It didn't burn her fingers, so she assumed it would irritate her face. After slipping into a refresher definitely for men she quickly created the concoction and smeared it above and below her eyes with the ease of years. She washed the remains down the sink. Her look now complete, she returned to the hanger searching for those clones that had been playing poker before. It was two days in hyperspace, extremely long considering most other trips were only a few hours. The clones didn't have anything to do, not having gone into battle. There weren't as many men as there usually were either, it turned out as she overheard the conversation. Only thiry eight out of fifty barracks were filled. Josephine sighed a little in relief. She wouldn't have to dance all night.

"Hey boys," she purred and sauntered up beside the one with captain markings on his back. She ran her hand over his armored chest, and the look of utter surprise on his face was worth it. The other clones looked on in shock.

"I'm going to be…" she trailed of and slipped her fingers softly through the clones buzz cut hair. "Dancing," she smirked and she knew they got her meaning by the sudden glint of excitement in their eyes. "In barracks 1A, 3H, 6J, 9I, and 12B tonight. Spread the word and get as many clones in each as possible. I would…" she smiled and kissed the medics cheek. His strong face flushed red and he dropped his eyes. "Appreciate it if any speakers and music on board was shipped between these rooms tonight." She turned to the other three troopers across the table who were watching with amazement. One of them replied,

"Of course Ma'am," and she smiled wide and kissed him full on the lips. He rocked back in his seat, stunned.

"That's wonderful," she turned to the next and whispered in his ear, "Make sure the Generals don't find out," she felt him nod against her hands. In return she kissed his neck. She turned to the last clone. He had the cleanest armor and obviously the least worldly experience. He looked almost terrified. She smiled kindly. "Don't think I forgot you," and she kisses his forehead tenderly. None of them utter a word as she walks away. Some of her drunken excitement faded and she almost faltered in her resolve to give them some well-deserved fun. Then she firmed her lips and clenched her hands. No turning back now.

The room was packed with unarmored and half-dressed clones, suits peeled to their waists. Each had their own rippling set of muscles and curling tattoos. Fifty little speakers were scattered around on bunks where clones hunched in utter disbelief. Many had not believed the rumors and when she walked in, the whispers had washed like a Tsunami over the group. She clutched in her fingers what would turn on the music and turn on the lights, handed to her by the shiny whose forehead she had kissed. It turned out he was an engineer.

"So," he voice echoed beguilingly through the packed chamber. She had made her way to the exact center and stood up on the box provided for her. They really wanted a good show. "Have you men seen women?" there were rumbles in the crowd but no definitive answers. "You're critically deprived of them here, aren't you?" and chuckles echoed. She smiled. "How about I give you some then?" and she tossed off her cloak and pressed the button. The lights went out and pounding music blared. The klaxon lights came on, spinning almost like strobes. Gage had really out done himself.

A clone whopped somewhere and began the frenzy and she pulsated with them under the lights. "How about you come and touch one then?" and war roughened hands were suddenly all over her skin as she danced with hundreds of them. Articles of clothing dropped to the ground and she withered among them. Her own hands were touch and her lips were everywhere and she tasted their sweat, their desire, their need. She danced like they all might die tomorrow, because they just might. She dropped cloth after cloth and let the touch her, room after room. She never lacked energy or flush or utter joy in each room, dancing down to her thong, licking, kissing, biting. She gave the men something to dream about other than their dead brothers and bloody battles. She didn't even notice commander Cody or Captain Rex among the frays. Actually they were stationed up in their bunks, closed eyes and focused on their own loves. Neither needed a Senator turned stripper to feel the heat of passion. They only allowed it because they knew she was sincere. She wasn't using their kin, if anything, she was letting them use her as she was tossed through them.

Each room was much the same until the last one. The clones acted no differently, the rumors had spread and they were thrumming with excitement for her arrival. What was different was what happened.

Obi-wan lay in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. The music pounded faintly in the background and he rolled over. He had meditated for near three hours when the music had started, taking his inability to sleep as a sign he needed to do just this. When he awoke however, it was no different. Now the culprit was not his restless mind, but the music and his senses.

The music filled his ears in the silent room until his heart seemed to beat to the base and he cursed faintly, sitting up and running his fingers through his hair. He was no stranger to the music, believe it or not he had been quite the partier as a young man. Nothing like Anakin with his drunken antics, but still. That really wasn't the issue. It was the waves of new emotion coming off the clones. Usually at night it was somber or slight fun in poker games and the like. Now though, he was consistently bombarded with lust, desire, and simple heat. They weren't having an orgy, were they? He had never sensed a gay thought in his men's heads so that couldn't be it. What on planet could it be? He stood, his curiosity peaked. He padded silently through the halls, cloak wrapped across his bare chest. The first barrack he passed seemed to have simmered down, but as he walked farther on the temperature seemed to rise and the music pounded up through the soles of his feet. He reached the culprit barrack and opened the door.

Josephine had made a favorite in her final room. As she danced a clone had the audacity to take her out of her clothes himself. She had laughed and let him make out with her. He seemed to be one of the older clones, maybe even her age. There was a dragon tattoo swirling on his chest and neck and over his buzz cut head. His eyes glittered first generation blue and he smirked. She kissed the smirk from his face, rubbing her near naked body against him. His brothers cheered him on and he laughed as they danced.

That's when the door opened, revealing Obi-wan. Everyone paused mid revel and Josephine stopped too, tongue pressed to Serpent's chest. She was glad her breasts were hidden. The music stopped and the lights turned off. Someone wanted to protect her integrity.

"I had no idea we had let a prostitute on board," Obi-wan's voice was scathing. Serpent left to get her cloak and he threw it over her shoulders. The fluttering was the only noise in the room. To the surprise of the men she met the Generals gaze firmly and stepped forward.

"You're men deserved some entertainment for all their hard work," Obi-wan said nothing, just took her arm gently and pulled her into the hall.


	11. Wait, Isn't This a Christmas Story?

Josephine had expected no less than a beating, but instead received a mildly amused look from master Kenobi.

"Let's find you some real clothes now, shall we?" he asked in an almost pleasant manner. But he did not let go of her arm.

"That is not necessary Master. I have clothing back in my quarters," Obi-wan stopped and raised an eyebrow.

"We can't have you wearing it if it looks anything like what you a wearing now. Besides," he shrugged and let go of her. "I think you'll find it appropriate to appear before the senate in. Josephine just nodded adrenalin from earlier having faded. Exhaustion swept over her in comforting waves as she trudged behind the Jedi master. Her will to argue had left her with her last breath and she feared her will to walk would be next. In a quiet voice that was more for her than he who discovered her she intoned,

"I didn't do it for myself. If I was selfish I would have stayed in my quarters and slept or maybe gotten something to eat. I did it for men who have never seen a woman." Josephine jolted when Obi-wan's burr replied,

"I know. That is why you are not locked in the detention block right now." And nothing more was said between them on the matter and it was put from the minds of everyone, never to surface again.

After what felt like miles of walking Josephine practically bumped into the broad and heavily muscled back before her. Only some quick reflexes saved her nose from an unpleasant fate as a pancake. The Jedi master ruffled through the closet until he appeared again with a long white dress and gilt gloves in his hands.

"I found these on Anakin's ship a year ago. I didn't really think they were his style so I took the liberty of borrowing them. With your skills at sewing you could probably fix the tear in the seam," there was a small smirk on his face as he tossed the clothes to her.

"I will,"

"Good night Josephine Dethkilr. May the force be with you," and he was gone, leaving her no time to reply. So instead she spoke to the air, to the walls, and to the dress she clutched like gold in her hands.

"It already is. The question is whether I want it to be," then she was off too, running. The wind flew through her hair and she let her muscles stretch. It felt so good to be free even if it was only for a few moments. Her impeccable memory led her back to her quarters, where she carefully slipped into the compact room. Immediately she got to work on the dress, which was actually quite pretty. It had obviously been Senator Amidala's at one point but discarded and forgotten after the seam had ripped. It was simple, ankle length and sweet. It came up under her chin and was tightened with a small gold clasp. There were no sleeves and a fine lace around the edges on both the bottom at the top. The torso was meant to be comfortable and the skirts extremely loose and flowing probably to make it look like you were floating. Josephine glanced at the corset that had been returned to her room, and faintly wondered if the glittering object was meant to accompany the dress and gloves. On a whim she stood, peeling off her cloak and pulling the dress on. She clipped the corset around her waist and pulled the gloves over her hands and lower arms. With deft movements she twirled her hair into a bun and smiled at herself in the mirror, then frowned when she realized she looked like a princess. With a sigh she turned to remove the clothing, accepting her fate to wear it. Obi-wan was pushed pretty far and she didn't want to topple him over. If it took looking like a medieval cheer leader to do it, then she would. Her fingers were twirled in her hair when she heard the voice the first time.

"Empress," it whispered like wind through desert sand. Josephine froze as fear trilled up her spine.

"Who goes there?" she questioned and span about her room. It was as empty as it had been a few moments before. "Do not hide from me!" she shouted. She was used to voices in her head, not outside it.

"It is I Empress. Do you not recognize your own?" her eyes flew to the mirror. Multiple voices spoke at once now bouncing through the room and resonating. There beside her stood two people cloaked in withering white and black shadow. One of the voices had disappeared when the two people spoke exactly at once.

"Reveal your selves!" she screamed again and looked to her sides, but there was nothing there. She was alone in the room. She faced the apparitions again.

"We are your past Empress, your beginning, your creators," the voices spoke in eerie monotone.

"We are your parents."

Josephine stood in shock as two pale ovals revealed their faces from the swirling colors. Both had eyes closed as if in sleep, the female in the darkness and the male in the light.

"I have no parents!" she screeched and wildly looked around her again. Still there was nothing but the thrumming in the air.

"Oh but you do Empress. You killed us," the faces eyes flicked open at the same time and she screamed out right. Her father's eyes were totally black with only a red ring where the iris should be. He had no whites. Her mother's eyes were totally white with a green ring. She had no pupils.

"Leave me!" she cried horror causing her voice to sound as if she was weeping.

"We will leave you Empress," and their images faded into the darkness. "We will." Josephine stood their shaking in utter terror praying to the force it was over.

It wasn't.

The footsteps seemed to come from within her mind as a figure approached through the mirror. Its gate was slow, almost limping. The breathing was heavy and mechanical. _Like Darth Vader_, she thought to herself. This wasn't Darth Vader. The creature paused when it equaled her reflection in size, though her reflection had long disappeared. It was shrouded in a black cloak and not an inch of skin could be seen. That was until it lifted its head, shifting the fabric revealing an entirely robotic left arm and leg and part of now obviously her chest. Josephine wasn't focused on that at all. Her eyes were riveted on the face. Half was a smooth metal plate where a glowing red eye glittered in the socket. The second side was what had stopped her own lungs and drained the blood from her face.

It was her own.

She looked a few years older, but what was worse was the pain in her eyes and the blood on her mouth. "Who are you?" Josephine uttered, reaching her fingers to the glass. They just slid down the surface and did not change the appearance of the wraith on the other side. Her lips pulled into a painful smile.

"I am your future, your end, your destiny," she spits the last word like a poisoned mushroom.

"Who!" she orders, fist slamming into the glass causing into the bend and vibrate like the woman's voices.

"I am Empress Zhosephi leader of the Geia Empire, ruler of Earth and nearby systems," she smiled again. "I am you." Then she was gone. Her final word reverberated through the walls and floor and amplified itself until Josephine's entire being was shaking with it. She screamed as her brain seemed to expand like a water balloon inside her skull. Then it was over. No pain, no voices. Just her in her pretty princess dress. She sighed with relief until she took in her reflection. Her normally black eyes glowed a dark red and her skin was gray and sick. Josephine had no time to ask questions to this entity.

"And I Josephine," she cackled wickedly. "I am you, your reflection, and your truth. The dark side is strong within you, let it grow and you could rule the entire galaxy!" she throws her arms into the air and laughs again, meeting her doppelganger's eyes. "Just kill-"and with a bone jarring crash the mirror shatters. Josephine's breath comes in quick gasps as the pieces fall in a pleasant twinkle to the floor. One piece hangs on by a strand of glue glinting in the half light. Two red eyes stare back from it.

"We could," and with a crack it meets the floor.

Josephine jolts awake from the same sound, room swimming around her for a moment before her eyes adjust. She sighs in utter relief, lifting her head from where it had collapsed on top of her borrowed materials. She must have fallen asleep while working. In a scanning glance she looks at the wall, and her eyes go wide in horror.

The mirror was shattered.

**Finally a new chapter! I'm so excited! A LOT less racy than last chapter, and no fears, no more of that I don't think. This is a T rated story, so it was perfectly legal, I'm just more used to writing to audiences that crave that kinda stuff like air. I'll stop though. Next chapter we will reach Corasant and meet Padme! As you might be able to tell, I took inspiration for this chapter from yesterday's new episode, Overlords. I thought it was fitting for this place in the story. **

**Thanks to all my devoted readers, but special thanks to **

_**mrs skywalker987**_

_**and onixeyes!**_

**Review or you cannot be mentioned! I'm not Josephine, I can't read minds!**


	12. Star Wars:The Alternate Personality Wars

Josephine began to shake again. The fear assaulted her and she twitched where she stood. It took her breath from her lungs and she felt her knees give way. She crashed to the floor, letting out a yelp as pieces of shattered glass dug into her skin. Just then two figures burst into her room, well one burst and the other limped slightly.

**An Hour Earlier…**

Anakin was glad when the medical droids dragged him from the bacta. He was far too familiar with that gunk. _Hey bacta, how have you been? Not too bad Anakin, I'm glad I get the pleasure to make you feel like you are bathing in slugs today. No the pleasure is mine_. He let out a sigh, but to his surprise it was still painful. Never had that happened to him before. The medical droid who seemed to have the uncanny ability to read minds answered his question.

"Due to the long lapse between your injuries and your therapy, it has been determined that the bacta will have little effect healing in you. Over the past eight hours as much as possible has been done, but it will be a few days before you are back to your normal self," then it rolled off, leaving him uncomfortably exposed and his clothes just out of reach. He grits his teeth and sat resisting the wince that wanted to haunt his muscles. The surgical table was cold against his skin and the familiar garments were welcome. Along with the pain, something was different about this time out of the bacta. There was no one here. Normally Obi-wan timed his entrance just right to show up when he was yanked from the slime. If he was on Courasant, Padme always found an excuse to be there. Rex usually showed up a few moments later with a message. He guessed that no one had predicted the bacta would be insufficient at patching him up. Because of this, no one had predicted when he would come back to the land of consciousness.

"General Skywalker are you awake? Someone told me in internal communications that a message had arrived saying you were out but I think it's just a practical joke," Anakin turned to meet a familiar face as Rex came around the tanks. A smile lit the battered Jedi's face at the grumblings of his good friend. At least something was normal.

"It's no joke Rex, though even I thought it was and I'm sitting here," he slapped the white platted torso on the back and groaned as he stood, stretching his arms towards the ceiling as his back cracked ominously.

"No offense General, but you don't look so good." Rex replied in his ever blunt tone.

"None taken. Long boring medical explanation short, the bacta wasn't working because there was too much time between the injury and now. So I'm stuck a creaking old man for the rest of the week."

"Well I'm sorry for that General."

"Don't be Rex, I've had worse," an image of a dream flashed before his eyes. The lava everywhere, burning his flesh, burning his mind, burning his soul until he was just a black shell. And he took his first breath and it echoed through the canyon where he'd fallen from so high only to crash and burn.

Shaking the disturbing image away he put a fake smile on and continued his conversation with his valiant captain. "So what's the report?" Rex didn't say anything for a moment as he chose his words carefully.

"Well sir, it involves the girl. Josephine Dethkilr. She's been…" he sighed and came up with a word he wasn't horrified to say in front of his superior. "Dancing."

"Dancing?" Anakin asked, not understanding the inflection.

"No sir. _Dancing_," Rex felt utterly ridiculous putting air quotes around a word. It was something Ahsoka would do. Why wasn't she explaining this?

"Oh," Anakin said, clearly still not getting it. Rex resisted the urge to face palm. His general had the reputation of being the partier of the Jedi and he still couldn't make the connection. "Oh," he said it and understanding came into his eyes. Rex thanked the force for the burst of insight. "Why in the frozen Hells of Hoth was she doing that?" Rex shrugged.

"It would be better if I showed you sir. I'm not quite comfortable with explaining it."

"Yes, yes, of course," he said and waved his hand at nothing in particular. "Security then."

"Yes sir." The duo strode through the ship, minds whirring with their own thoughts until they reached the security booth. The two clones manning the station looked up, then stood and saluted.

"Sirs," they said at exactly the same time.

"At ease men," Anakin said and they relaxed their posture and dropped their hands.

"Leave us," Rex ordered with undeniable authority. A smirk crossed one trooper's face.

"There's been quite a show in here tonight," and the pair chuckled. Anakin's face darkened. He had never tolerated the men speaking of Ahsoka in a sexual manner. He wasn't going to tolerate it with Josephine either. _Ahsoka never pranced around nearly naked in their barracks,_ an annoying voice whispered. Anakin was forcefully jolted from his thoughts by a voice. "Enjoy it," said the second clone and before either commanding officer could so much as raise a finger the pair were gone. Rex, with a few under hand curses, sat at the controls and Anakin looked over his shoulder at the screen, hand pressed white against the bolted chair.

"Here we go sir," he mumbled and activated a series of images the clones had already grouped into a file. He swore at their arrogance for doing such a thing. Did they not believe they were going to get caught? Rex started the first video of Josephine in the hanger speaking with the clones playing poker. Anakin couldn't help but notice the way Rex bit his lip as his eyes followed her hands on his brothers.

"We should-"

"No, we watch all of them. Then we delete them." Rex nodded and pressed play, continuing to stare. Anakin watched too, but his face was creased with a different intensity. The view scrolled through all the barracks as she danced laughing and sometimes singing with the men. The troopers all looked happier than he'd ever seen them. He found himself glad that she had done this for the men, no matter that it was probably illegal in some way. That didn't bother him. It was the look on her eyes when she walked between rooms, the face she made as she stood before the doors. The look like she was nothing more than a droid doing as programmed. Then she was inside and glowing with radiance that took two videos to prove fake.

He knew if Ahsoka made that face he would go comfort her, and Josephine had saved him on Earth. They had wanted to dissect him. The sheer notion sent shivers down his spine. Even though there were a few holes in his memory and she could control him when he wasn't focusing, he was going to see her.

"Come on Rex," he said and with a few swift finger movements sent the file to the internal computer and deleted the external file. Now only he could get to it with a specific password. He remembers the recording Josephine has stored on her phone. Now he had a recording of her. They were at a dead lock of supremacy. Finally he wouldn't have that niggling fear in the back of his brain.

"Where are we going sir?" he asked as Anakin led him through the halls.

"Josephine's room." Anakin sensed something then, emotions of pure horror. His feet began to pound on the metal floors as he sprinted through the day lit halls. He felt his limp but ignored it though it was the only reason Rex could keep up with him. The pair practically slammed into the door when the screaming abruptly ended. The door slid open to reveal a room that almost smelled of the force.

Josephine was curled in a ball in the corner. She cowered when they entered the room like a trapped animal. She let out a faint snarl, and Anakin was taken aback at the feral curve of her lip. That wasn't what had Rex backpedaling into his chest. It was her eyes. They glowed a deep red in the near darkness.

Josephine blinked and felt the voice quiet. The pain eased and she collapsed back against the wall, her breath coming in shallow gasps as her heart beat near two hundred times per minute.

"Go," her voice was weak and she doubted it carried the power it usually did. "Please." She wanted them to stay. She wanted Rex's gruff reality and Anakin's strength. She wanted assurance that she was here, not with the entities that called themselves her parents or the monster that called itself her future. Most of all she didn't want to be with herself, fearing the darkness that had blossomed in her chest, its roots sinking deeper and deeper into her mind would take control. To her confliction emotions Anakin turned to Rex and ordered him to go. The man nodded and gave her a lasting look.

_You are a monster, _it said.

Then it was just her and Anakin, alone in the suddenly bright room. The man picked his way across the glass on the floor, his booted feet crushing one or two slivers into sand. Josephine didn't move fearing her balance would teeter and she'd plummet back to the accursed place she'd become all too familiar with.

"You should have left."

"You had a vision." It was not a question so she did not respond. "Obviously, it was a bad one," he picks up a piece of glass and then lets it fall, the clinking the only noise in the room for a few moments. "So, what happened?" he is reminded of his own vision, but pushes it away. Now was not the time. She just looks at him. He was beginning to wonder of the red eyes were better than these endless black holes, just as cold, just as empty. "Your eyes were red."

Josephine reels in terror standing suddenly and looking at him more evenly. The blood from hundreds of cuts runs unnoticed from her hands and knees. "What?" she splutters. Laughter echoes in her mind.

"Yes. What?" Anakin turns to see Obi-wan in the door. Josephine backs up and hits the wall. "What are you?"

"No, no, no," she mutters. "Not now," The master and Padawan look at each other.

"She's mad?" Obi-wan suggested. "Though it wouldn't make sense. I would be able sense it." Anakin nods and faces the girl again. "Josephine?"

"_You are mine now child. You will make me proud."_

"_Yes leader." _

"_Who are you?"_

"_Your daughter."_

"_Hi honey."_

"_You're such a freak. A loser freak." _

"_Jump out the window."_

"_I will jump out the window." _

"_I have reports that you were involved in the suicide of-"_

"_I was not."_

"_You were not."_

"_You sneak out every night!"_

"_I do not."_

"_You do not." _

"_Forget me."_

"_Kiss me."_

_**You lose Josephine! You lose and I have won! Finally!**_

"No!"

_**Yes! Yes! **_

"NO!"

She falls to the floor and the pair senses the force coalescing around her body. Seeking an entrance, it must finally find a weakness for it is suddenly gone. And she stands, neck snapping side to side and she smiles, teeth shining in the darkness.

"I won," she laughs and looks at her hands in glee. "I won."

Her eyes are black.

**One more chapter! I like it… I reread it and thought it was pretty good. I know exactly where I'm going with this story and I'm sorry to say but it's going to be pretty AU. I think everything would be AU if someone came into being right now who knew exactly what was going to happen in the future. Yeah… Josephine's kinda going nuts, but she's better now! She has thwarted the dark side. **

**For now…**

**(play dark side music)**

**I give thanks to all my dedicated readers! My reviewers, well you guys are bloody brilliant! (I hope you know this already)**

**Panthermonspartner!**

**Cnwriter!**

**mrs skywalker987!**

**skywalker02!**

**I love seeing new names! So keep up the good work and may the force be with you!**

**(I used way to many exclamation points)**


	13. Truama and Glittery Anakin

And by black, he meant a totally, all-consuming black. Her pupils and iris seemed to be even darker, if that was possible. That would haven't have been disturbing if the rest hadn't also darkened. You know that part around the iris that is supposed to be white? That was black too. Her skin splintered before their eyes, the cream complexion fading to a dusky gray. All the life in her face and arms, the roundness, the womanliness melted like candle wax from her body. She laughed again and it crackled through the air like force lightning.

"I've finally won!" she screamed and through her hands into the air. To both Obi-wan and Anakin's surprise they slammed back into the walls as the force washed over them. With another cackle she looks at her shriveled hands veined with spilled ink. Josephine lost her concentration in the process, and Obi-wan and Anakin thanked the force as they dropped to the ground. Neither wished to call the evil creature Josephine, but there was no other name for her. It.

"Now, Now I will take over the entire galaxy! And neither you, Ben," she spits out the name and glares at Obi-wan. Where had the name Ben come from? She throws her hand up and grabs his master in a force choke. He lets out a strangled gasp before his air is cut off completely. Anakin, no longer stunned by the sudden change in demeanor, charged at her with his lightsaber drawn. Without even looking at him she caught him in a force choke. He clawed at his windpipe, desperately trying to pry off the invisible hands. "Or even you Vader, could ever stop me."

The name Vader cursed him to stop moving. How did she know? He'd never told anyone… not even Padme about his visions of the future. How? How! Anakin wanted to scream but barely managed to suck air in through his shrinking esophagus.

"I-" and her left hand twitched. Then her right hand curled back on itself and gripped her left wrist. She growled and tried to uncurl her hand but it wasn't working. Then both arms betrayed her and turned back towards her neck, strangling her own air. Anakin barely had the strength to lift his head and watch the horrifying act.

He had never seen anything like it. The girl was fighting herself and the real Josephine seemed to be wining. The things head tossed back and its eyes rolled. It was over in less than a minute. The white ness of her skin and total black was gone but the sickness and the dark color of her veins did not fade. She swayed on her feet.

"I.. It's me. I… I…I…" she tips forward with no effort to catch herself and both Obi-wan and Anakin watch as she topples, her skin shredded by shards of glass. A nasty cut split the membrane of her eye from eyebrow to cheek bone on the opposite one of Anakin's. At this point neither really cares.

Obi-wan was by his side merely a millisecond after Josephine collapsed in a pool of her own blood. "Anakin, Anakin are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he groaned and stood, cracking his back and neck. He would have bruises in a few hours but for now his skin maintained its color.

"She seemed to be harder on you than she was on me," Obi-wan said and his eyes turned to the girl lying unconscious on the floor. He tried to keep the thoughts of hoping she was dead at bay.

"Yeah," Anakin said then cracked a smile. "The women always are." Obi-wan tried to restrain his own grin and punched the taller man in the shoulder.

"Ha Ha Anakin, but in all seriousness what are we going to do with her?" Anakin could sense the conflict with in his master.

"We should kill her," he said and regretted the words the second they were out of his mouth but he knew they were true.

"Yes, we should," Obi-wan sighed and dropped his hand from where it had ben stroking his beard. "The question is whether we would, or could." Anakin doesn't know what to say to that. He doesn't really want to be the one to kill a girl that had lived but as long as Ahsoka. Even if the girl in question had power that seemed to equal that of a Sith lord's.

"Then we'll just toss her in the med bay, have a twenty four hour watch on her," Anakin says dismissively as he tries to remove the image of her head rolling on the floor to his feet.

"There is still the issue of the mind control," Obi-wan says and begins to pace. Anakin senses Ahsoka coming but doesn't mention it, thinking it would be a bad idea to interrupt his master now.

"A force restraining collar?" he suggests.

"Maybe. She doesn't seem to use the force in the way the Jedi or the Sith do, at least until a moment ago. I wonder if the device will even work," Obi-wan shrugged seeming to have come to a decision. "Still, it seems to be our best option. Can you carry her? My shoulder is still sore,"

"Would you like me to get you a hot towel, or maybe some cucumber slices for your eyes?" Anakin says sarcastically as he heaves Josephine over his shoulder. She didn't really need heaving, she felt nearly emancipated after her run in with the dark side.

Obi-wan merely rolled his eyes. Anakin continued with his taunts as they entered the hall. "Maybe I could find you a foot bath and have Cody paint your toenails."

"Whose toenails am I painting sir?" Anakin spins to see Cody, Rex, and Ahsoka coming around the corner. Anakin frowns at the smirks on the clones' faces and the giggle bubbling up on Ahsoka's the second she sees him.

"Master," she chokes out. "Why, why are you covered in glitter?" Anakin groans and looks down at himself. Thousands of mirror fragments had imbedded themselves in his tunic effectively making him sparkle. He let out a few choice curses that left everyone else drowning in laughter. He plays it up, it having been so long since any of them have laughed.

"Did Josephine attack you with the stuff?"

"No!" he says indignantly and continues walking down the hall way. "For yur information she shattered her mirror and these are merely fragments stuck in my clothing."

"And how did they get their sir?"

"Oh, she force choke him and through him against the wall like he weighed nothing," Obi-wan piped in.

"What did you do to her sir?"

"Nothing! And she did the same to you master,"

"Yes, but I don't look like a little girls doll." Anakin was losing this battle and he knew it. So he decided to swear a few more times and stop talking at all, much to everyone else's amusement.

They were nearing Courasant and Anakin decided to stop by Josephine in the ward. He hadn't talked or even seen her for the past twelve hours and for some reason he felt obligated to speak with her about what had happened. Out of all the Jedi he knew of, Anakin himself was the only one he knew of who had struggled with the dark side like she did. He was the only one she could talk to and who wouldn't stamp her as 'imprison for life' or 'kill on sight'. She was just a kid after all.

He nodded to the clone trooper that stood outside the curtain that surrounded her.

"Any change?" he asked softly. The simulated voice that came through the helmet replied in a similar tone. "She is awake sir, and only asked for her blue robe and a needle and thread. I can't tell you much more than that," Anakin thanked the unnamed trooper and ducked into her abode.

The white curtains encircled them from two sides, white walls on the other. A small medical cart was serving as a table where a glass of water and an untouched serving of food were waiting for her. Josephine was swathed in the same garment he first met her in. Bandages crossed her fore head and cheeks like patches of sunlight and her hands were coated in the smooth cotton as well. She struggled with a needle and thread, working on a pair of golden gloves that he recognized as Padme's. He didn't bother to ask where she got them, knowing no strait answer would come. She looked up from her work when he sat on the end of her bed. He was taken aback by the changes in her face. Her cheeks once soft and pink were hollow and blushed with a deathly parlor. Her lips were still red, but most likely because she had been gnawing on it in nervousness. Her hair still shimmered, but in a more reserved manner as if afraid it would die as well. Even her eyes had changed. They were as dark as ever, but her left had a diagonal streak of white that just missed her pupil.

"They're a lost cause you know," she said and tossed the gloves back on her lap and wrapping the blue and white poka-dotted fabric tighter around her shoulders. "I guess it's something we have in common." She smiles, but it is soured by the look of defeat in her eyes. Anakin can't help but let his eyes flicker to the silver that glints faintly below her collar. The force repressor hangs like a noose from her neck. "If you are here to dispose of me I'd appreciate it if you did it quickly, I really don't want time to mull over all the awful things I've done in my life."

"What awful things?" he asks, pondering whether he could kill her if she told him enough awful things. As if sensing his thoughts she drops her eyes to his where his hands rest on the sheets.

"You know, stuff," her voice is quiet. She shifts again, curling into a small ball and resting her chin on her knees. He'd witnessed Ahsoka get like this, and he had no idea what to do about it then with a girl who was practically his little sister, let alone now with a girl who had tried to kill him.

"Do you remember anything?" he asked.

"Some things," she lied. She remember it all, the power that had danced through her veins like fire. It had been the happiest moments of her life, watching two of the great Jedi suffer under her hands. The force had suddenly been _there_, as easy for her to use as twitching her fingers.

Now she felt like a hollow shell. A shell that had saved two lives. Maybe that would set her balance again, for having taken others, others who hadn't deserved to be taken. Maybe.

She stared at the man before her, the man whose sky colored eyes were always haunted. She watched the man that would soon be known as Darth Vader. She knew it was worth it for him. Josephine knew with utter certainty what would have to be done to prevent that from happening, and she was willing for it to occur.

As the pair stared at each other, a double image flashed in front of Anakin. Over The right half of Josephine's face flashed a metal mask with a single red eye. The next breath she took was hollow and electronic, a sound that haunted him late at night. Then as fast as it came it was gone, but he felt deep in the force that something about their fates had shifted, and nothing was ever going to be the same again.

_Sorry this took sooooo very long to appear on this sight I haven't had a lot of time for writing lately but it is up now! It also took me a while to think of a way to do this in a way that wouldn't have me gagging about how awful it was, but I think I did a decent job. The future is looking dark and dangerous for Josephine while Anakin's has turned considerably lighter compared to what Lucas had spilled out for him. Once again as a warning this fic is going to be AU post clone wars._

_I give thanks to all my wonderful readers and wonderful reviewers!_

_Cnwriter!_

_Panthermonspartner!_

_Mrs skywalker987!_

_skywalker02!_

_And_

_Deathgodesses!_


	14. I Am Josephine Dethkilr

"I am Josephine Dethkilr, Senator from planet Earth," her voice was clear and crisp as she stood in the center of the senate. Her head was high and she gripped the edge of the flotation device so her fingers wouldn't flutter like dry leaves in the wind. She was terrified but she would never show it. If that became so she would become a sack of money surrounded by poor men, gone in an instant. These snakes in their gilt dressings and silver trappings would eat her for an appetizer. None of them were her friends, except maybe Padme Amidala. Josephine had met her earlier, before she had floated to the middle of this ring. The young senator was quite nice, surprisingly so. Padme had even offered her an invitation to lunch after her speech. Josephine said she was a friend, but not to be trusted. She found herself hoping Anakin was going to be there. He had informed her of their score when he had seen her yesterday while she was still recovering from her… ordeal. Finally they were even, but she didn't really care anymore. Today she wasn't better, if not worse than she was yesterday. It had been too easy to lie to Obi-wan, and she found herself wondering if he had even cared. "Today, I was welcomed with open arms to your inspiring government. For that I thank you with all my ability and my people thank you as well. I am afraid to say that I might be a mere temporary adornment to this fine establishment. I am not here to speak of this however."

She was amazed at the silence that spread out before her. Actually to say amazed was more of an over statement. More like whelmed. Yes, she was whelmed.

"I am here to warn you. I can see the hunger in many of your eyes, for my planet, for our resources, for my spot in this senate. You cannot take them. You may think it easy, you may think I am weak for the mere fact I am new," he hands slammed back down on the duraplastic. "I would like to inform you that should any of you try, you will receive a rude awakening to my abilities. You will not challenge me." Her words echoed through the chamber and there was silence. Utter all-encompassing silence. She knew they had all fallen under her spell.

"We will not challenge you," and the monotone choir was as terrorizing as an entire droid army.

"That was a… interesting speech Josephine," Padme said with a rather forced smile. Josephine just laughed and twirled the straw in her drink. It was light and airy compared to the million ton weight resting easily on her brain and the voices chittering in her ears. "Oh that was nothing. Back on Earth people say things like that all the time," she didn't mention that was mostly in movies.

"Well, I'm glad," and Josephine laughs again. She can sense Padme's internal ridicule. She needs to be more serious, but she just cannot keep a straight face. She couldn't slip here, in front of the prying eyes of those who seek to undermine her. Especially in front of her only ally. It had come time to play the one card she had at the moment. While she knew the future, it could not be revealed here. The consequences would be enormous. So instead she primed herself to reveal that she knew the senators secret. She would have to do it delicately; she didn't want to lose her.

Josephine was in the process of opening her mouth when Anakin appeared in the restaurant. His blue eyes scanned the crowd and Josephine couldn't help notice the burn marks and oil that stained his tunic. So she revealed her knowledge subtly to her dining partner.

"Someone appears to be looking for you Senator Amidala," she said with a small smile, feigning innocence with her eyes. Padme turns and sees Anakin. It would take a blind, deaf, stupid person not to notice the changes in her the second she saw him. It was like watching a tropical bird spot a mate. She seemed to poof up, preening her feathers and fluttering her eyes. Josephine discreetly rolled her eyes.

"General Skywalker," she said in a way that had so many hidden layers Josephine could practically feel the relationship. How had _no one_ picked up on this?

"Senator Amidalla," he said and met her eyes for a few moments. With barely a glance Josephine's way her said her official title.

"Why don't you join us?" Padme shot her a glance but said nothing.

"I'd love too." Anakin pulled up a chair whose intricate finery looked absurd next to his leath battle worn appearance she couldn't help but admire. Josephine raised her finger for the check and one of the female service droids brought it over. She detested the false beauty they portrayed, but she wasn't going to take it out on the gold fiend. Through some sweet talking, otherwise known as mind control, she had gotten a big company to sponsor her, paying for her shiny apartment, speeder that had never been touched, and her extensive bank accounts. She would open trade routes to Earth and seize control of the system once she instated someone else in her place here at the senate. First though, she needed to return to Earth. She was in the process of negotiating an escort with the Jedi counsel. Otherwise known as her asking nicely and getting denied, then her demanding and getting quizzical looks, then her ordering and getting what she wanted as she always did.

After scribbling her signature on the I-pad like device she turned to Anakin.

"I recommend you tell her what I know," then she left to break in her new quarters.

Josephine entered her new home, at least for a week or two. The first thing she did was check her holoprojector, and there was a blinking red light in the far corner. So the Counsel had finally come to a decision. Much to her annoyance however, when she signaled she was available for conferencing they made her wait up to an hour before they responded to her call, an aggravated Mace Windu hovering in the center of her dark room. His words were sharp like nails and left no room for her to maneuver. She didn't mind though, she got what she expected. With polite nods to each other she locked the connection off and proceeded to the refresher. Everything had been fully stocked by droids much earlier in the day, but they had returned to wherever they came from. Now her apartment what haunting, empty of everything. She felt like the only moving thing for miles. She knew it was not true, for there was the soft whirr of the coolant system and the hum of speeder traffic many floors below, but she still felt alone in the world. She washed the silky makeup from her face and brushed out her hair that had been trapped in ridiculous knots. She felt bad for stealing the company's money, but they were extremely corrupt and it would probably go into the CEO's pocket anyway. Pulling on a cotton-like shift Josephine slipped into the massive bed, which adjusted to her weight. With a sigh she relaxed into the pillows and ordered the lights to turn off. Her dark eyes took inventory of the room, in the dark appearing less vast and lonelier. In the dark the walls were tinted a deep gray black, and the light that filtered under the blinds a harsh blue that fell across her legs. Her eyes adjusted slowly. No matter how hard she tried, she could not smell any specific scent upon the fabrics. She now closed her eyes and fell back to the comfortable surfaces. The Jedi Counsel had finally agreed to let her take a Jedi escort back to Earth with her, along with a ship with all the equipment to set up a trade route. She left out the information she was going to leave the ship on Earth and take a shuttle back, because her people were going to need to reverse engineer it and begin building their own fleet. Yes this would have to be done. Much to her satisfaction they had chosen Anakin and Ahsoka to accompany her. Anakin's troops would fall under the command of Obi-wan while he was away. They would be traveling through dangerous space, for Earth was well beyond the outer rim itself. With a sigh she rolled over. She was making a speech tomorrow at the debate for more clones. Padme was going to argue peace, again. Josephine whished that was possible, but she knows what happens to Padme and her ideals in the future. Just the thought had her sitting up again, rubbing her temples with her hands. She gets up and paces, running over the words in her head, relaxing then tensing her muscles and whispering,

"More clones itself is not the answer. We need to give them more to fight for, so they will not question the greatness of the Republic. To do this we must give them more leave so they find women to protect. Also, they should be made citizens. This ensures their salaries, yet think of it as millions of more votes for those of you who take my side and pass the bill I propose. It practically ensures your re-election and a stable position here in the senate. Do you even dare support those who are against this citizenship for fear that if our side does win, you will never earn an elected position ever again?" her voice trails off into the night.

Finally she takes to the floor, curling into a ball. The harsh carpet is more comforting than the luscious bed. She falls asleep that way, found by her droids in the morning with salt stains on her cheeks.

"Thank you Senator Amidala, and Senator Churchi for your lovely speeches. However much it pains me though, I must disagree with my colleagues' ideals," Josephine stands in audience in front of the entire senate, much as she had that first day last week. It does pain her. She wishes for this war to end as much as the next person. Though she knows it cannot, for it leads to the destruction of near all the light in the universe. Anakin's eyes flash in her mind and she steels her resolve. For his sanity and his light, she would continue on her current path.

"This war must not only continue, it must be won." Her eyes scan the crowd in a circular motion, all rapt on her face. Her bill had passed earlier, though she had passed out for near a day afterwards from the strain of manipulating all those people. "The fate of this republic hangs in the balance. All things considered, I would think all would be more desperate to win than you appear to be. None of you joined Darth Tyranus," a ripple goes through the crowd at the name of a Sith Lord, a name that can only belong to Count Dooku. She senses more than sees the chancellor stiffen at the name. Yeah, Chancellor her $$. "When her left the court. Do you think he will be forgiving? Do he think he'll spare you're pretty hides? No. I know what you are thinking. How could this affect me? The separatist battles only happen in the Outter rim. So they take one more planet, at what cost to me? Well, what if you got your fuel from that planet? Or your crops? Your water?" she pauses and black holes draw the attention of all those in the room. "What if it was your planet? How would it cost you then?" In the silence you could hear a fly keel over and die. "Ask your great Sid-Chancellor Palpetine, why the war hasn't been won yet. Do whatever is necessary to make it so, because you are next." She let part of the name slip in order to draw suspicion toward the Dark Lord. Maybe the Jedi would figure it out and take him before she returned.

Maybe.

The ship was stocked, time to go. Josephine looked over the platform at Rex and a few other clones who stood on the platform and saluted the ship as it departed. No more did she press her warm cheeks against the window. Space travel was nothing new to her now. The angle fish shaped ship spun in the air and exited the atmosphere with Anakin at the helm. Ahsoka poked her head around the corner.

"Senator Dethkilr, please join us in the cockpit. There may be stowaways aboard the ship that we are unaware of."

"Please, call me Josephine. Or Eene, if you prefer," she said with a pleasant smile. Ahsoka lost some of her stiff formal demeanor and smiled widely in return.

"Of course," she said and Josephine stood and followed her into the cockpit. Anakin glared at the controls, as if it was their fault he had been taken away from Padme so soon. He should have been glaring at her, it was more her fault. Josephine took a seat that was not the co-pilot's chair. A targeting computer dropped from the ceiling. She held her hands away from it and turned to Ahsoka.

"Umm, how do you work this thing?" The orange girl laughed and came over, explaining it in terms Josephine didn't really understand, but she got the gist of it and managed to have the thing rise back into the ceiling without setting it on fire or having it spill oil all over her red jump suit with black trimmings. Her need for a guard had been solidified earlier that day when a group of new and improved commando droids attempted to assassinate her. Least likely it was count Dooku, he would only know of her presence in the senate through spies or the Chancellor himself. Most likely it was another senator trying to remove her from the picture. It could also be Palpetine, frightened by her intentional slip up of his true name and feared the information she had. It would just have drawn more suspicion to it. Whatever, she wasn't in his sick and twisted head. Yet.

Sometimes she feared that her won head might be worse.

_I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry for the extremely long time between posts. I've lost my mojo, for both my stories, and am still suffering from an intense case of writers block. They need to invent an ICU for that. _

_Josephine's journey through the starwars universe continues in the next chapters, which are less of fillers and more action. This chapter was originally going to be longer, but this was the best I could do. (I wish I had an excuse like rabitxwriter. I could just randomly shout I'm pregnant! or that I died and came back to life as a jedi….)_

_I give thanks to all my readers and reviewers, who's names I mention in spirit but I NEEED to post this so im gonna have to skip them for today, sorry guys. _

_I LOVE YOU in whatever way you wish. _


	15. Angering Ahsoka

The ship was stocked, time to go. Josephine looked over the platform at Rex and a few other clones that stood on the platform and saluted the ship as it departed. No more did she press her warm cheeks against the window. Space travel was nothing new to her now. The angle fish shaped ship spun in the air and exited the atmosphere with Anakin at the helm. Ahsoka poked her head around the corner.

"Senator Dethkilr, please join us in the cockpit. There may be stowaways aboard the ship that we are unaware of."

"Please, call me Josephine. Or Eene, if you prefer," she said with a pleasant smile. Ahsoka lost some of her stiff formal demeanor and smiled widely in return.

"Of course," she said and Josephine stood and followed her into the cockpit. Anakin glared at the controls, as if it was their fault he had been taken away from Padme so soon. He should have been glaring at her, it was more her fault. Josephine took a seat that was not the co-pilot's chair. A targeting computer dropped from the ceiling. She held her hands away from it and turned to Ahsoka.

"Umm, how do you work this thing?" The orange girl laughed and came over, explaining it in terms Josephine didn't really understand, but she got the gist of it and managed to have the thing rise back into the ceiling without setting it on fire or having it spill oil all over her dark brown dress. Her need for a guard had been solidified earlier that day when a group of new and improved commando droids attempted to assassinate her. Least likely it was count Dooku, he would only know of her presence in the senate through spies or the Chancellor himself. Most likely it was another senator trying to remove her from the picture. It could also be Palpetine, frightened by her intentional slip up of his true name and feared the information she had. It would just have drawn more suspicion to it. She was not manipulating his sick head yet.

Sometimes she feared that her own head might be worse.

The flight was uneventful until they reached the outer rim. Ahsoka and Anakin went through all their playful banter in an hour. After that Anakin leaned back in his chair, put his feet on the dash, and feel asleep. At least she though he was asleep, it was hard to tell. His eyes had closed and his face lost some of the intensity it harbored in waking hours. In addition, he had stopped moving. While conscious, his fingers were tapping or his foot was skipping on the floor once his eye was twitching. He obviously had ADHD or something such as that.

Sadly, Ahsoka was not much better. After ten minutes of Josephine sitting peacefully and contemplating the future, Ahsoka could not stand the silence.

"So," she says and spins her chair around so she faces Josephine who smiles politely.

"So," the new senator replies. Ahsoka laughs a little in an attempt to fill the silence.

"You know, I know nothing about you Josephine," she says and spins around in her chair again. "Well, nothing except your name, where you're from and that you are a senator." Josephine smiles for real this time.

"Well what do you want to know?"

"How about how old you are?" Ahsoka stops spinning in her chair.

"I'm fourteen years old," Ahsoka's eyes go wide in surprise. Blue irises take in the poise she has as she sits, the tasteful brown dress. Mostly the look in her eyes, like everything around her is for her own taking. That makes her seem old, and powerful. "How old are you?"

"Same," Ahsoka says.

"Really? You look much older," Ahoska blushes a little. The awkward silence re-ensues. Ahsoka notices Josephine's eyes flicker to her Master's prone form. Usually he snores, so he is probably only pretending to be asleep and eavesdropping on their conversation. Ahsoka goes to shove him but a firm grip on her wrist halts the motion.

"What?" she asks kindly.

"Do not awaken him. I have something to tell you that he should not hear." Ahsoka nods and watches his eyebrows raise the smallest fraction. Ahsoka decides to keep the fact to herself. She would tell him anyway.

"What could possibly be so sensitive?" she says with jest. Until she looks into Josephine's eyes and sees the seriousness there.

"Ahsoka…" she trails off, clears her throat, and starts again. "Ahsoka, I don't know what happens to you."

Two massive blue eyes tilt to the side in confusion.

"What?"

"Ahsoka, I… see… the future. I know what is going to happen to your Master, your Master's master, I know what happened to Qui-Gon, I know what happens to Chewbacca and R2-D2 and C3PO, Ahsoka I know everything. Except what happens to you." Ahsoka looks at her like she is insane.

"You're insane." She was never one for hiding her feelings. Josephine's eyes darken.

"I am not. And I can prove it. Have you noticed… changes in your master?" Ahsoka raises and eyebrow. The young senator then clarifies. "Such as… darker tendencies? Extreme recklessness? Snappish attitude toward others? Lack of sleep? Nightmares involving mechanized breathing and a black mask? Sallow parlor? Distancing himself from his men, from you?" Ahsoka's mouth thins with each question until it is barely a line at the end. Her eyes flickered to her master, then back to Josephine. She took one-step in front of him, blocking him slightly from the intruders view.

"No," she says with crisp vowels. Josephine nods and stands, announcing she is going to her quarters. A small smile keeps flashing on her lips.

She knows a lie when it stares her in the face.

Anakin lays in shock on the captain's chair. Only the arms of the gray seat keep him from sliding off completely. How had she predicted perfectly every nuance he was feeling right now? Everything that was happening to him, down to his very dreams. No one knew about the dreams, not even Obi-wan. Not even Padme. He wanted to throw himself off the chair right now and slam her into the wall, asking what she was and how did she know.

As Josephine had asked the questions Ahsoka had watched all the color leave her masters face and a look of terror cross it, even if only for a moment. Everything she had said was true, which made it all the worse. She had protected him, but her fear was rising. Would everyone notice soon, if a girl who had been in their company for barely two weeks had discerned? What would happen to Anakin?

What would happen to her?

At that moment, a red light began flashing on the controls. Quickly she turned back to flying the ship, and Anakin sat up as well, no longer feigning sleep. There was no time. Fuel had run preciously low in the time they had been lazing about. They needed to make an emergency landing to refuel. Now.

Josephine had noticed the gage way before the other two. Yes, she had realized that Anakin was most likely awake. She regretted him having to hear it but there was no other way. Her plan had to work, she had to save his life even at the expense of her own. It would be worth it.

That, and if she did nothing she would never, ever forgive herself.

Working quickly now, anticipating the emergency landing they would have to make, she changed into her specially ordered clothes and drew on her specially crafted makeup. She did so quickly, for her hands were shaking badly and she felt a fit coming on. Missing her cloak clip entirely the length of black cloth spiraled to the ground and let her quaking where she stood trying desperately not to bite her own tongue off. Her breath came in ragged gasps, almost as if she was about to vomit, but that didn't happen anymore. She merely collapsed, crumpling like a newspaper in a god's fist. She laid there in the dura-plastic floor, waiting for it to be over. Begging for it to be over. Screaming for it to be over. Yet there was nothing but the cold loneliness and the ceaseless, everlasting laugh.

**(oh for those who were wondering, this doesn't happen until after the end of season 3)**


	16. Crystal Bullets

**The next few chapters are a little edgy, just a warning. Not bad though, no need to worry. Sorry I haven't updated in a while. My muse is hiding and I have not been able to find it. **

"Josephine, we are landing. You are to join us when we disembark," Ahsoka's high voice flitted through the channel. Josephine's fit had just ended, and she was glad for the distraction. With a few fluttering fixes to the outfit meant to be as intimidating as possible and grabbing the bag she had packed in anticipation she went to join her protectors on the bridge.

They looked up when she entered, putting her weight on the back of Anakin's chair. Both blanched a little at her transformation from earlier. She now wore what none of them realized would be her staple when she ruled Earth. But that is for a different story.

She wore tight black pants and knee high gray boots. A belt hung loosely around her hips, and the double holsters had their matching blasters. A knife was strapped to her thigh. A form fitting gray jacket with a jaw brushing collar graced her torso with buttons up one side, all the way up under her neck. On the collar was a black circle with an eight pointed star on the inside. She wore her usual makeup, excluding the lips that were two shades darker red and the swirling black shapes over her eyebrow. Her hair was pulled back so tightly against her skull that a star shape had formed around her temples. The black cloak was snapped to her coat, and in all honesty, she looked like a Sith lady before the decay of the dark side set in. If Sith ladies actually existed. At least Anakin thought so, and he could see it in Ahsoka's eyes as well.

They landed without incident, though Josephine seemed to be on edge. She kept glancing over her shoulder, then snapping her head forward. Anakin was antsy too, he didn't blame her. They were surrounded by people who were most likely criminals, and the price to fill up the tanks surely was. Ahsoka was the only one who seemed totally at ease, chatting up the locals and smiling broadly at the man who looked up and down. Anakin wanted to cut the offenders eyes out, and moved to do so. That's when he felt a firm, black gloved hand on his arm. He looked to see Josephine, who was nearly as tall as him in her heeled boots.

"Look," she said simply and pointed. A Separatist ship had materialized in orbit. A rather large Separatist ship. He turned to alert Ahsoka to see her pushed up against the wall by the man in red armor, his helmet lying discarded on the ground. Oh, and his lips were pressed to Ahoska's while she tried to writhe from his grip. Now Anakin was going to kill him. There was no question-

There was the sound of a shot and the red devil dropped Ahsoka with a shriek, clutching his leg. There was a second shot and a hole appeared in his skull. He fell away, dead. He ran to Ahsoka, checking her over, making sure she's okay. Finally after much protesting she shoves him roughly and he complies with the unsaid request to move away. Anakin turns to see who had killed the offender. Josephine stands there with her blaster smoking.

"I didn't know you could shoot," he says.

"Put the armor on," she replies. He cocks his head to the side in utter confusion. "Put the armor on," she says with more force. He feels his mind slacken and he swears mentally. He forgot about her mind control.

"I will put the armor on." She smiles thinly.

"Ahsoka, go contact the Jedi order from the ship. Tell them we have been captured, because we are going to be."

"I will contact the Jedi order. I will tell them you have been captured." She turns on her heel and heads of the gangway back to the cockpit. Anakin has disappeared behind a stack of crates, dragging the dead man.

A small shuttle approaches the landing platform, and she feels the heat as the air flushes her face. Three figures descend from the gang way. Josephine quietly hopes that Ahsoka will not appear and destroy the scam she is about to weave.

"Finally," she scoffs and flicks dirt from under her nail before she looks up at the people before her. "I was about to contact Count Dooku to see if he had lost his party." The slender man of some alien species with the impressive set of blasters looked confused and lowers his gun. He reminded her of a ghost, with extremely light skin and crystalline blue hair. He would have been beautiful had the injuries not corrupted his frame, causing its glow to dim and hide to sag.

"What?" he said in a voice like shattering glass. His sister just glared at her, silver hair flipped lightly over a thin shoulder. She only assumed it was a sister, their frames were exactly the same and angular, as if roughly sewn from crystal. Josephine used her practiced diplomatic smile on the pair, even as the girl did not withdraw her gun. She let her focus leave the two bodyguards and to the portly man in-between them. It would have been a stretch to say he was four and a half feet tall, but not so to say he was four and a half feet in diameter. His skin was leathery and colored like expensive French mustard. He wore a navy coat that barely buttoned, trimmed with ridiculous amounts of gold. His trousers were much the same, tucked into silver boots. His nose was like that of a pig except pushed farther back into his face. Two ears flopped like they were bits of fabric sewn where real ears should be. His eyes were beady and black and the greed there shown like the night sky in the middle of the desert. Right now they were clouded with confusion.

"We were sent here to capture you and the Jedi scum!" he shouted and wagged his pudgy fist at the air. Josephine bit back a laugh and smiled like she would at child who'd broken its toy.

"Like you would have been able to take care of the Jedi," she drew out the last word like she'd seen the evil ones do on the show. She looks down at her nails again, flicking more nonexistent dirt before picking up her bag. "I was just finishing him off when you showed up, but I thought I should greet you. Seeing as you have no respect for me, I will return once I finish the job." She looked down her nose at them when all three of them opened their mouths in protest.

All three mouths closed.

With sharp cracks as her boots hit the floor she preceded behind the two story stack of crates. She almost walked into Anakin, but she thanked the force in which she now believed that he hadn't revealed himself to the separatist party. She put a hand on his chest to keep from falling over, and it also served to push him back farther behind the barrier. Quickly she began the story in hushed whispers, while randomly shooting at crates and at the floor around the dead thief.

"The Separatist party has been affectively nullified. We need to go with them though, and maybe we can even learn some key intelligence on their side of the war," Anakin was looking at her, and the red armor made him all the more intimidating, especially because it was the color of dried blood. She continued hurriedly. "They think I've killed you, so we need to make that man," she pointed at the corpse. "Appear to be you."

Anakin's mind was spinning. They were going to be captured. Not really captured, they were going willingly onto a Separatist cruiser. Killing the man, was that all just so he could wear his armor and become her personal bodyguard? What would she have done if no one had presented themselves for death? Tapped someone on the shoulder then shot them? He shuddered faintly at the thought as he suspended the corpse in the air and Josephine rapidly put some of his robes onto it. Seeing his clothing on that scum made him furious, but he wasn't going to say anything where the Separatists might hear him and blow their cover. But tonight when they were alone and he had swept their quarters for bugs he was going to tell her what he thought of this plan. This plan that would put her on the knife's edge, where one false move would give her a slit throat and him trouble with the Jedi counsel.

"Throw him now," she said with a hint of an order. It's not like he could disobey her anyway. Force he hated her right now.

He did as she asked and she put exactly five holes through his robe and three through the man's skull. He slid sadly across the ground and slammed in the second crate wall, perpendicular to the one hiding them and in plain view of the twins and the fat man. Josephine said that was him. That man she'd just shot through eight times was him, in all respects. Those stiff fingers clutched his lightsaber. Well, now Josephine did. He followed her after shoving the helmet on his head. This was going to be painful.

"Well?" said the fat man. Josephine smiled like a tiger would at its prey.

"He is dead," she says with a grin and holds up the lightsaber. "Another for my collection," She pulls her cloak aside and clips it beside two other lightsabers. For a moment, Anakin believes they are real and his breath catches in his throat. Then he realizes that is not possible and sighs. "Let's go." The three nod and turn on their heels. Josephine lightly grabs Anakin's arm, the one with the blaster and practically drags the furious Jedi into the cramped shuttle. Everything about him screams they could have taken them, why did she drag him into this mess? As an answer to his unspoken yet thought question she taps the glass as the leave the atmosphere, simply an empty minded gesture to the others, but it draws Anakin's attention.

His heart drops from his throat to his stomach. There, surrounding the bay they had landed in, at least five hundred droid shuttles took off, returning to the frigate in orbit. On average he takes out about three hundred droids per battle, Ahsoka averages around one hundred and fifty. There had to be at least one thousand droids in those shuttles. If he had tried to fight, they would be dead. Anakin turns back to face her, and she doesn't smile at the helmet. Instead, she sighs faintly and grips his arm tighter. All his hatred for her dispels in that moment. She looks so out of place among these ruthless killers.

I belong here now, Josephine thinks as she looks at her own eyes in Anakin's helmet. I am a killer. A cold-blooded merciless killer. A – her train of thought is cut off as they dock on the separatist ship and the whole ship roles. Tossed into the male crystal, he steadies her roughly. Two pure silver eyes bore into her own and ice fingers trail up her leg, resting at her hip. Then he pushes her away, and Anakin grabs her arm. The two men's eyes lock like two opposite magnets. Anakin saw the hand then. The female crystal had to deal with Mr. fat pig and his rolling antics, so neither of them noticed.

Once rolly-polly was righted, he went and screamed at the pilot. When he returned his face was an interesting shade of orange, and obviously he was in no mood to deal with diplomatic matters.

"A servant droid will show you to your room. We will meet over dinner later," and he stormed from the vessel, followed closely by his bodyguards. The male gave a lingering glance at Josephine, and she looked down her nose at him, black eyes flashing. He looked away first.

The cargo hold was bustling with activity as they prepared to make a jump for hyperspace. To her confusion, there were a lot of scantily clad twi'lecs on the ship, along with an array of species including humans. They followed around well-dressed patrons, bringing drinks and food as they discussed diplomatic matters. Anakin seemed to come to a conclusion and he grabbed her shoulder, jerking her back a step.

"What?" she snapped, representing the annoyed master. Anakin hissed through his voice filters as she kept walking, following the servant droid that had appeared out of nowhere.

"This isn't a normal Separatist ship," he said as they entered a hallway where a senator of unknown origins was watching a pair of Twi'lec females go at it in a side room as he threw credits at them.

"I can see that," she said rolling her eyes. She hated being so rude, but the droid was going to be recording. They were going to be under observation until the second they got off this ship.

"It's a pleasure cruiser," he said. They kept moving. She had heard rumors of these floating casinos on Courasant. That explained the hand then.

"Please enjoy your stay," said the gold robot before strutting off. Anakin practically threw her into the room, locking the electronic door with three different passwords before sweeping the room twice for bugs, turning up with eight. He wouldn't talk to her until he finished, and finally, after crushing the bugs under his boot he tossed his helmet on the floor and turned on her, eyes the color of the hottest fire. He opened his mouth to say something but Josephine couldn't hear it now so she began talking first, faster and faster until she could barely understand herself but the words just poured over her lips like cold water.

"I didn't know it was a pleasure cruiser, that's why there are so many separatist's hear, I'm going to have to dance to get information, I'm sorry for being so rude, I need to be this way it is what they expect, he touched me, they were going to kill us all, they were going to kill Ahsoka, they were going to kill you. I killed someone. Oh I killed someone, in cold blood no less. He was hurting Ahsoka, and I needed the armor, you did because otherwise they would kill you, or torture you and make me watch until I told them you were-" she shuts up then, and Anakin's mouth is still open like he is about to scream, but the words aren't coming. She sits on the edge of the bed and drops her head into her hands. Her voice is more normal, less high pitched and rushed, when she next speaks.

"It's all for you. You." She turns so just one dark eye gazes at his face. "And I'm sorry." He doesn't know what to say to that. So he sits beside her and places his hand on her back, looking away as she cries into her fingers, tears glittering like crystal bullets.


End file.
